The Butterfly Effect
by MrsEm
Summary: James T. Kirk and Devon K. Kitto shared many moments together, through their shared vocation they had bookended each of their many achievements and failures, sometimes not even being cognisant of the impact on the other. You see, each one embodied the theory of the butterfly effect, one small act for one resulted in a large impact for the other.
1. Chapter 1

**The Butterfly Effect**

She was the newly appointed Chief Tactical Officer and a member of the primary Bridge crew on board the USS Enterprise; it was more than she had ever hoped for. It was bitter sweet for all involved, many attaining positions due to the loss of life during and shortly after the Nero incident. The new Constitution-class starship was the first of its kind to have the tactical station on the Bridge. She was at the forefront of exploration and adventure, the cream of the crop. She was good at what she did, very good. She had the respect of her fellow crew members not only for her practical abilities but her attitude towards others. A team player, the first to run to the aid of anybody and everybody. Reliable, thoughtful but not afraid to question or even obstruct behaviour she believed counterintuitive to the success of a mission or the overall goals they all shared.

She had a select group of friends and actively took part in the social construct of the crew. She was mentored by senior staff and in turn mentored those below her. She was unbeatable at Poker but faired less so favourably in the weekly hockey match. She spent her spare time researching classical literature and modern art. In the evening, when in her quarters she would listen to music, paint and try her hand at calligraphy. She wasn't proficient in any of these tasks, but she enjoyed them nonetheless. Her patience was sometimes lacking, she had a tendency to privately judge others too quickly but wasn't too proud not to acknowledge that she could be wrong. She could be stubborn and loved Strawberries but hated Green Beans.

She hadn't been the top of her class at the Academy, far from it. In Layman's terms what she had lacked in book smarts she had more than made up for in street smarts. Her Tutors had convened half way through her second term for the Cadet's annual review, should she continue was the question on the table. Starfleet Academy was chock full of geniuses, what it lacked, a number of the Tutors argued, was 'characters'. 'Characters' were not afraid of questioning, of trying something different. Characters thought outside the box.

* * *

When James Kirk had retaken the Kobayashi Maru test for the third time and won, the Council had unequivocally agreed prior to the disciplinary hearing what the outcome would be. This agreement had come about in no small part because of ameeting that had occurred prior to the hearing that no one wasmade aware of, not even Spock who had raised the grievance in the first place. As she wasn't on the Command track and therefore the test was not hers to take she had been requested to attend a private meeting with the Council.

"State your name for the record please Cadet."

"Devon Khurana Kitto." The chignon at the nape of her neck was wound too tight, she tried loosening it out with her thumb and forefinger but quickly placed her hand back on her lap when she thought that the action made her look nervous.

"What is the purpose of the test Cadet?" The lead Council member asked her abruptly.

"The notional primary goal of the exercise is to rescue the civilian vessel Kobayashi Maru in a simulated battle with the Klingons Sir." She answered succinctly, confidently regarding the old man in front of her. She uncrossed her ankles and then re-crossed them the other way.

"Go on."

"The disabled ship is located in the Klingon Neutral Zone, and any Starfleet ship entering the zone would cause an interstellar incident. The approaching Cadet crew must decide whether to attempt rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew, endangering their own ship and lives, or leave the Kobayashi Maru to certain destruction. If the Cadet chooses to attempt rescue, the simulation is designed to guarantee that the Cadet's ship is destroyed with the loss of all crew members." She licked her bottom lip, a conscious habit she was trying to break.

"Cadet Kitto, I asked you for the purpose of the test, not the framework." The old man double downed.

"It's designed to test the character of Starfleet Academy Cadets in a no-win scenario Sir." She replied without hesitation.

* * *

She was a favourite of Spock's, an Academy Instructor at the time, in making up the test crew. She never gave away the reasoning for the test, or swayed the potential Captain or First Officer with bias action but she did respond varyingly to the decisions that they made.

Kirk's third attempt wasn't the first time she had aided the Command track Cadet with the test, in fact she'd been present at Kirk's first two attempts. In the second he had chosen to abandon the ship, effectively preventing war with the Klingons and violation of the treaty but ensuring the death of the stranded crew.

She had led a munity of the crew against the acting Captain Kirk, stating his violations of Starfleet policy regarding rendering of aid to distressed vessels. She relieved him of his position and made certain the First Officer took command. She could still picture his face at the time.

* * *

 _"What the hell!" He bounded up to her after the simulation had ended and the majority of Cadets had left. She didn't say anything, just stood her ground and mentally prepared herself for an angry tongue lashing from a entitled Command track Cadet. "Why did you do that?" He questioned, her gaze quickly darted to another Cadet who was stood behind him, watching the altercation.  
_

 _"Jim, drop it. She was just doing her job." The other Cadetplaced a hand on Kirk's shoulder but he shrugged it off._

 _"Like hell she was Bones! Was that really necessary?" He looked at her incredulously._

 _"Believe it or not Kirk, is that what they said your name was? I did you a favour. You might not realise that right about now but sleep on it and if you're still at a loss come find me and I'll be happy to explain." She nodded to him curtly, then to his friend and left, not giving it, or him a second thought._

* * *

"Yet Cadet Kirk chose to cheat." Another Council member to her left spoke, she turned her attention to the woman.

"Cadet Kirk chose a solution that involved redefining the problem." A small smile played at the corners of her mouth.

"Is that so?" Her original interrogator piped up again, the Council woman didn't seem impressed by the interruption.

"That is my opinion Sir." She didn't turn her attention back to him as she spoke, choosing to afford the woman the respect she deserved and seemingly hadn't been given by her colleague.

"And you chose to take advantage of the redefined problem by transporting the Klingon crew on board before Kirk destroyed their ships and subsequently sending a message to Starfleet stating that they were to be held as prisoners of war and tried for their crimes previously committed. All without direct order or consent from your Captain."

"Yes Sir. I executed my duties as Tactical Officer as I deemed necessary."

"Why may I ask did you do this?"

"Cadet Kirk prevented provoking the Klingons into hostile action or even potential war by not entering the Neutral Zone but the risk was still viable as far as I perceived it. The Klingons may well have carried out an incursion into Federation territory responding to provocation by the Kobayashi Maru prior to their ship's being disabled."

"Their shields were down?"

"But the crews of three Klingon warships would be a valuable asset to the Federation." She shifted in her seat as she spoke.

"If you had been in command, what would have your approach been?" Another member of the Council asked quietly from the end of the long table in front of her.

"I am not on the Command track Ma'am."

"Indulge me Cadet Kitto." She quietly encouraged.

"Among other things, I would have utilised my already existing comparable reputation to the Klingon Leaders."

"How?" The softly spoken woman asked.

"By instilling fear and respect into the Klingon Captains, I would hail the Klingons and they would agree to help me rescue the freighter instead." She took a sip of the water that had been sat in front of her, it was now slightly warm.

"That's bold." She simply nodded in response, all her experience at bluffing in Poker was coming in handy.

"You are to be a Tactical Officer, is that correct?" The original Council member asked, looking at his notes on his PADD.

"Yes Sir."

"Why not Command?" He queried.

"I don't have the inclination Sir, or the character."

"You seem quite sure of that? Isn't that for us to decide or least persuade you of?" He sat back, crossing his arms in front of him and arching an inquisitive eyebrow.

"The Kobayashi Maru test's objective is not for the Cadet to outfight or out plan the opponent but rather to force the Cadet into a no-win situation and simply observe how he or she reacts. Cadet Kirk stepped outside the rules of the game and redefined the game, I simply took opportunity of the tactical advantage of the situation that he had created."

"What do you believe the result of the hearing should be? Feel free to answer openly and honestly."

"I would never presume to know the correct conclusion and decision the Council should make Sir." She tilted her head slightly denoting her respect for those sat in front of her.

"Quit the politics Cadet Kitto, answer the question." The man responded with a wave of his arm and a smirk on his face.

"Yes Sir, I believe Cadet Kirk should be awarded a commendation Sir." She answered without hesitation this time.

"A commendation? For what?" The Council seemed taken aback.

"Original thinking Sir."

* * *

Spock and Kirk sat in his ready room reviewing resource andchain of command.

"What's next Spock?" Kirk rubbed his eyes, struggling to keep them open. With Chris Pike now gone and him the Captain, Kirk and Spock were in the midst of building their crew back together.

"Tactical Operations Captain." Spock replied.

"Who've we got on the books?" He stifled a yawn as he spoke.

"Lieutenant Ross Stewart is highly commended, he would be the logical choice for the position of Chief Tactical Officer." Spock read from his PADD.

"Fine, next?" Spock placed his PADD on the table. "What?"

"Captain, permission to speak freely Sir." Kirk rolled his eyes.

"Spock, get on with it I'm tired as hell."

"Although Lieutenant Stewart is highly praised I believe Lieutenant Kitto the more appropriate choice." Kirk creased his brow, racking his brain trying to put a face to the name.

"Kitto? Where do I know that name from?" He asked.

"I do not know Captain?"

"Kitto, Kitto, Kitto? Why does that ring a bell?" Kirk reached his hand out to Spock, gesturing for him to pass over his PADD to him. Taking the PADD and looking over the personnel file realisation struck him when he saw her picture.

"Her!" He barked out.

"Captain?"

"She cost me the test! She was the reason I didn't pass theKobayashi Maru test the second time round!"

"That's not correct Captain, you would have failed regardless of Lieutenant Kitto's actions." Spock remarked simply. Kirk's jaw dropped open.

"What? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"The topic has never arisen Captain." Kirk looked back down at the PADD, her blue eyes staring back. He remembered those eyes, they had bored into him when he had accosted her after the second simulation. He never went to see her for her explanation as to why she led munity against him, still believing she had been in the wrong and costing him the test. They very rarely saw each other on campus, when they did she would acknowledge him with a quick nod of her head but he never responded in kind, choosing instead to ignore her. He remembered those blue eyes after the third test, when the computer had rebooted and he had managed to rescue the stranded crew. She had looked at him with a mixture of vexation and mirth. He had cockily tossed his half eaten apple at her; she had caught it and tossed it right back not saying a word.

"Do you really think her a better choice than Stewart?" He finally asked.

"Affirmative Captain." He paused for a moment longer and then nodded his head.

"Fine, next?"

* * *

 ** _A lot of character and plot set up in this first chapter but I hope you enjoyed it; let me know what you think. LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	2. Chapter 2

"Raise shields!" Kirk shouted.

"Aye Captain." Devon's hands quickly traversed the console in front of her, the muscles in her legs constantly making small quick adjustments to keep her on her feet as the ship around her rocked and bowled. "Shields up, currently operating at seventy percent." Her voice was commanding, but there was a tightness in it that only she knew was there and it told her she was scared as hell.

Kirk sat in his chair gripping on to the arm rests, in front of him the view screen displayed the battered foreign ship posturing right in front of them. All attempts at hailing the ship or sending a message had failed, they had been attacked as soon as they had come into view. For the past eighty two hours they had been escorting a small Orion freighter vessel which had been damaged and was due in at one of Starfleet's remote science posts, Devon knew retreat for the Enterprise wasn't an option without putting the freighter in imminent danger.

"Prepare photon torpedo's! Sulu, keep us steady." Kirk directed, she knew the order was coming; she had already set the wheels in motion.

As she readied herself for the Captain's next order she saw that the ship had sent out a grappler unit, she'd seen one before years ago in a simulation exercise at the Academy. It clung to the other ship and ripped through its bow, without hesitation she sent out a detractor beacon. Her fingers working at lightning speed.

"What are you doing Kitto?" Kirk had eyed the beacon and heard the alarm from the Tactical Officer's console on his left, he knew all the cautionary noises off by heart and knew exactly what they warned, he asked the question anyway. He hadn't given an order for the defence manoeuvre.

"Grappler entity Captain, it's been averted." She answered rapidly, Kirk didn't have time to acknowledge or indeed reprimand her for taking action without instruction.

"Fire Kitto!" On his command Devon unleashed a barrage of weaponry. Expertly focusing on the ships own weaponry, engines and life support systems.

"Direct hits Captain, they're dead in the water." Kirk pushed himself up from his chair.

"Uhura, have they acknowledged any of our hails?" Kirk turned to his Communications Officer, she shook her head.

"No Captain." She replied. Kirk briefly looked at his CMO, who had been stood by his side the entire time.

"Bones, ready the Med Bay, there may be casualties."

"Yes Jim, but where the hell are you going?" McCoy countered, Kirk turned from McCoy.

"Kitto, you're with me." They briefly made eye contact and then he was off and sprinting to the turbolift, she followed without hesitation not before McCoy caught her arm as she sped past.

"Don't let him kill himself will ya?" He whispered.

"I'll give it a go Doctor McCoy." She shrugged her shoulders at him, which did nothing at all to alleviate his apprehension.

* * *

Standing on the transporter pad both Kirk and Devon readied their weapons, the two Security Officers who stood behind them did the same.

"You should transport into their engineering room Captain, plenty of time for you to get the lay of the land." Scotty instructed from the main console, Kirk gave a curt nod in acknowledgement.

"You ready?" Kirk asked Devon.

"Aye Captain."

"Scotty, beam us up." Kirk instructed, the lights whirled around them, the tell-tale tingling sensation of their molecules being split into a trillion shards flooded their body. As quickly as the light took over they were plunged into the darkness of the enemy ship's engineering room. Devon dropped to her knees immediately, aiming her phaser at everything and anything that she perceived to be a hostile threat. Slowly rising up she turned to check on the two Security Officers, a figure loomed in the background, raising her phaser she took the shot without wavering, dropping the assailant. The Security Officer who was stood in front of her was frozen, her shot had whizzed past his ear, maybe an inch away. He slowly turned, seeing the stunned, unmoving body on the floor with a weapon still in its grip. He starred back at Devon incredulously, the realisation that he had been seconds away from death apparent on his face.

"You're welcome." She turned to Kirk who had watched the event unfold.

"Remind me to stay on your six Chief." He gave her his customary grin and then as quickly as he was glib he was deadly serious, focusing ahead of him and gesturing for them to follow. They slowly made their way through the tight narrow corridors, all of them having to crouch slightly to make it through. They hadn't come across any more adversaries, Kirk who was heading up the team stopped and knelt, Devon pushed past the two Security Officers and mirrored his stance.

"They must run on a skeletal crew, I'm going to the bridge, I want you to do a sweep of the ship." Kirk whispered close to her ear.

"Aye Captain." Devon responded, she turned and faced the two Security Officers and informed them to follow the Captain. She could almost feel Kirk bristle at the order, she turned back to him and spoke before he could.

"The likelihood is the rest of the crew will be on the bridge, you need the back-up Captain." She explained to him, answering his unspoken protest. He looked like he was about to object further but gave the Security Officers a glance who were already readying themselves for a fight.

"Alright Chief, but at the first sign of danger I want you off this ship you hear me?" Kirk punctuated the meaning behind his instruction to her by gripping her shoulder and giving it a firm tug.

"Clear as day Captain." She watched them carry on forward through the corridor, a small smile played on her lips. She wondered whether he knew he was wasting his breath telling her to leave at the first sign of trouble, he must have known that she would never leave anyone behind.

* * *

Kirk could hear voices ahead, he took out his tricorder and scanned the door ahead of him.

"Four life signs, get ready to disarm, I want to know who the hell we're dealing with here and why they attacked the Enterprise. Set phasers to stun." The two men nodded and made sure their weapons were programmed correctly. "On three." Kirk mouthed the countdown, opening the door the three men rushed the room, expertly sedating the three flanking officers and Kirk training his phaser on the leader in a matter of seconds.

"Who are you?" The leader spat at Kirk.

"I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise, who the hell are you and why did you try to destroy my ship!?" Kirk stared at the man, he was small but obviously a warrior of some kind. Covered in scars and tattoos, he looked to be wearing the bones of his previous victories around his neck.

"This is our space! You do not belong here!"

"This is neutral territory, it doesn't belong to anybody!" Kirk retaliated. "Look, your ship is disabled; you're outnumbered and out gunned. Let my ship and the freighter pass and there will be no further consequences for you or your crew." Kirk watched the man contemplate what he had just said, slowly he raised his hands in apparent defeat. "You have me at a disadvantage, tell me your name." Kirk asked calmly.

"I am Murad, this is my ship, we work alone." He finally uttered.

"Is there anyone else on this ship?" Kirk questioned, highly aware that his Chief Tactical Officer was somewhere on her own as they spoke.

"Just my Son, you must let me communicate with him now, he must know I'm safe or he may retaliate against your crew. You are harbouring our enemy, you cannot blame us for our actions." Kirk's eyebrows rose.

"The Orion ship? How do you know there are more of us on your ship?"

"Our technology isn't as archaic as it looks Captain. We know how many of you beamed aboard." Kirk nodded.

"Alright, but I'm warning you, one false move and I will instruct my Officers to take you down. Understood?" The warrior inclined his head, quickly pressing the buttons on his chair console he shouted for his son.

"Beauth! Beauth respond!" There was a pause.

"Father! Are you alright?" The panicked voice filled the bridge.

"I am alright, please, stand down. The Captain of the ship, Kirk, he has promised to release us if we take no further action…"

"Father you cannot believe them! They are the enemy escorting our enemy!" The son, Beauth interrupted.

"Beauth listen to me, I order you to stand down…" Over the communication Kirk listened to the younger man stop talking, he could hear a door open and close and the shout of a woman, Kitto.

"Lieutenant!" Kirk shouted but it was no good, he heard phaser fire. Raising his own weapon at Murad he focused on the man in front of him. "What's going on!? You told me there was no more crew! Tell him to stand down!" Kirk shouted, just as he was about to speak again his own communicator beeped, he could hear Kitto instructing the Enterprise to beam them back on board. "Kitto, can you hear me!? Are you alright?" Spiralling lights formed around him, he turned to the two Security Officers, they two were engulfed in light. "Kitto!"

* * *

Devon had made her way through the majority of the ship, it was little more than a weaponised freighter, with the majority of space taken up by large storage rooms. After making a sweep of the last hanger, she came across what she believed to be the tactical room. Raising her phaser she pushed the button to open the door, she was immediately confronted by a man holding his own weapon up and directing it at her.

"Don't shoot!" She shouted. "My name is Lieutenant Devon Kitto, I'm with the USS Enterprise, lower your weapon!"

"Why are you here!?" The man screamed back, his hands shaking.

"You attacked our ship!" Devon responded as calmly as she could, her attention was diverted to a beeping sound coming from the console behind the man. "What is that? What have you done?"

"You will not take our ship! They will not take it!" He all but screamed, looking at the console behind him she could barely make out the symbols, what she knew for certain was that whatever it was, it was counting down.

"Is that the self-destruct? Terminate that now!" Her voice boomed around the room. She edged closer, refocusing her aim at his torso.

The man began to respond but another alarm pinged, an unfamiliar voice reverberated throughout the room.

"Beauth! Beauth come in!" Devon listened to the voice, it must have been one of the crew of the ship.

She watched the man's face fall, he didn't take his eyes off her as he slowly went to press a button to allow him to respond, she silently nodded her head, telling him it was okay to do so but she also sharpened her grip and focus on her phaser again, making it clear he was to try nothing else.

"Father! Are you alright?" He replied.

"I am alright, please, stand down. The Captain of the ship, Kirk, he has promised to release us if we take no further action…" Devon realised that Kirk must have made it to the Bridge and was with the man talking, Beauth's Father. She watched the man in front of her begin to panic.

"Father you cannot believe them! They are the enemy escorting our enemy!" He shouted back.

"Beauth listen to me, I order you to stand down…" Devon was distracted by the sound of the door beginning to open behind her, she could do nothing but turn and direct her phaser to the door, three men rushed the room. Letting off cover fire she dived to the floor, taking cover behind one of the stations. She didn't have time to warn Kirk and the others of the self-destruct that was still counting down, she was outnumbered. There only hope was that she could distract them long enough for the Enterprise to distance itself enough from the now doomed ship.

"Enterprise come in, beam up the Captain and two Officers now!" She shouted into the comm. She could still hear Kirk over the open communication with the Bridge, he was shouting for her, telling them to stand down. "Beam them up NOW! Get away, the ships about to blow!" She shouted again, as her attackers rounded the corner the last thing she heard was Kirk shouting her name.

"KITTO!"

* * *

 ** _Please leave a review if you're feeling generous, if not I hope you enjoyed regardless! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	3. Chapter 3

What they lacked in stature they certainly made up for in strength, not a moment after the Enterprise acknowledged the presence of Kirk and the two Security Officers appearing on board but two of the warriors grabbed Devon by each arm, hurling her up and making her face Beauth. She didn't fight back, knowing it was both useless and would only heighten the already volatile situation. The other came striding over and with all of his might struck her across the face. Her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood and she couldn't help but spit it out at his feet, her first instinct not to retaliate ebbing away by the second.

"That's enough!" Bleuth interrupted, going to the console behind him he deactivated the self-destruct.

"That was your first port of call!? To destroy your own ship!? A bit over the top don't you think?" Devon sarcastically questioned, eyeing all three of them.

"Silence!" Beauth shouted back, clearly embarrassed by his own actions. "You will be silent!"

"Look, listen to me. Just let me go and we'll call it a day alright, maybe next time pick up the phone before you start attacking a Federation ship!" She was angry, she knew she should be calm, diplomatic. She should have been sticking with the script but she'd never encountered such reactionary, ridiculously stupid people in all her life.

"You're escorting our enemy!" Beauth took a step forward, obviously more confident when he had his henchman doing the heavy lifting.

"I don't care! You think they're bad? You ain't seen nothin' yet!" Devon winced when she received another blow in response to her glib remark, this time to the stomach. She doubled over in pain, trying not to let out a howl. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction. She pulled herself back up, staring at the man holding on to her on her right. "Is that all you've got?" Before he could respond the door opened and Murad walked in. Seeing the sight in front of him, and the state of the Starfleet Officer currently being held against her will on his ship he raised his hands in the air.

"ENOUGH! Beauth stop this! Let her go!"

"We are warriors Father!" Beuth exclaimed, almost pathetically.

"We are Son, but you must know when you are at a disadvantage, when your enemy is mightier than you. Release her and allow her to return to her ship."

"But Father…" Murad strode towards his Son and without a moment of hesitation struck him across the cheek with the back of his hand. There was a moment of shocked silence, Devon knew when to be quiet, she wasn't going to push her luck at this stage.

"Go, go now." Murad muttered to Devon. She nodded and tapped her communicator.

"Enterprise, one to beam up." Pulling herself out of the grip of the two men she stood proudly as the lights of the transporter began to whirl around her.

* * *

"Well, it's good to see you Lassie." Scotty greeted Devon in the transporter room. Taking the step down from the pad she gave him a smile. Scotty tapped his communicator, "Captain, Lieutenant Kitto has just beamed on board." He informed Kirk.

"Are the Captain and two Security Officers unharmed?" She asked.

"Aye, and no doubt the Captain is back on his way to see you." He answered.

"I'm sure he is, I'll be in the med bay if he needs me though." Walking out she made her way down the corridor, taking the turbolift up a level she heard her name called from behind.

"Kitto!" Turning she saw that it was Kirk.

"Captain, it's good to see you in one piece." She noted his face, it was full of thunder and irritation.

"Did I or did I not tell you to transport off that ship at the first sign of danger?" They stood in the centre of the corridor, all the while crew were passing and averting their eyes from the altercation occurring between Captain and Chief Tactical Officer.

"You did." She answered, no evidence of sarcasm in her tone.

"So why, prey tell did you give the order to beam me off that ship and for you to remain?And for the Enterprise to leave?" His voice had risen to quite an alarming volume.

"Captain, I was aware of the immediate threat you and the two Security Officers were in, I made a valid decision to protect the Captain of this ship and the crew of the Enterprise."

"That was not your decision to make Kitto!" Kirk answered exasperated.

"With all due respect Captain, I believe it was. Section ten sub paragraph five states that in the event of immediate threat, it is the Tactical Officer's duty to safeguard the welfare of the Away Team Lead, in this case you Captain. I carried out my duty Sir." He looked at her incredulously but not being able to argue with her correct citation of the policy.

"And what were you expecting to do? Get them to change their mind? Stop them from blowing up their own ship?"

"That's exactly what I did do…Captain!" She checked her attitude, he seemed to realise she was bristling, he took a step back and his features relaxed.

"You're a fool Chief." She knew he didn't mean it, it was his way of saying that he agreed with her. That was as much as she was going to get from him. Kirk then noticed her split lip, and the way she was holding her side with her arm. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better." She scoffed.

"Right, well, go and get yourself patched up and then we'll debrief with Commander Spock."

"Aye Captain." She gave him a tight smile and began to walk away.

"Chief." She turned again to face her Captain.

"Thanks." He gave her a smile.

"You're welcome Captain, besides, I figured I owed you one." She stepped towards him again, closing the gap between them.

"Why do you say that?" Kirk's brow furrowed.

"I know it was a toss-up between Stewart and I, thank you for putting your personal feelings aside and for giving me the chance." She was being genuine he could tell, he was glad of it as well. He felt a pang of guilt knowing that it had been Spock who suggested her for the position. He was also disappointed that she still thought he didn't like her but he supposed he hadn't done anything to prove her otherwise.

"Well, I figured I owed you one, along the way. Anyway, don't thank me yet Chief." He patted the top of her arm and walked away himself. "Get yourself to the med bay! You look like shit!" He shouted over his shoulder.

* * *

"You're a damned fool." Doctor McCoy stood by the side of Devon's bed, running a collagen regenerator over her ribcage.

"Why?" She stopped counting the rivets in the ceiling and turned her attention to McCoy.

"Why? Why? Do I have to list all the reasons Kitto? You beamed Jim off the ship and stayed!" He released he was waving the regenerator a little too quickly over her stomach, he refocused on the task and slowed his movements.

"You would have done the same." She replied casually.

"The hell I would!" He put the device down and picked up another. "Sit up." He instructed. Devon sat herself up, happy that her ribs no longer hurt. Swinging her legs over the side she sat facing McCoy. Holding her jawline with his left hand he waved the dermal regenerator over her lip with his right. "You and him are different sides of the same coin." He turned her face with his hand as he spoke.

"What do you mean?" Her cheek mushed against his thumb as she spoke.

"Don't talk! I'm trying to do my job here." He admonished roughly. Devon sat quietly until he finished, setting the regenerator down she watched McCoy type up her notes and then mumble towards her that she could go.

"The Captain was in danger Doctor, the ship was in danger. I did my job." He looked at her, the faintest smile playing on his lips.

"Jim would say the same thing, like I said, different sides of the same coin."

"What's your point?"

"For somebody who seemingly goes up against the man at every turn, you could at least act like you agree with one another from time to time." McCoy leant in, as if he was giving her confidential information.

"I don't actively go up against the man, I make my decisions carefully. I don't do it through some misplaced need to prove him wrong! If he believed different that's up to him. Besides, I seem to remember that you followed me in the munity against him during the Maru test? And you took my side after the fact. I wasn't the one who acted like a sullen teenager and not even acknowledge me! Don't act all holier than thou Doctor." He raised his eyebrow at her.

"I'm not! And I took your side because you were right. The kid needed to learn a lesson."

"I think you're contradicting yourself!" Devon laughed a little.

"Damn you Kitto, you're damned infuriating." He waved his hand in front of her as if trying to shoo away an annoying bug. She couldn't help but laugh more.

"That's not the first time I've been told that Doctor and I'm sure it won't be the last. Thanks for patching me up." He started as if he was going to carry on having a go at her but stopped and sighed, changing his mind.

"You're welcome, don't make a habit of it alright?"

"I'll try my best. Weren't you the one who told me to stop him from getting himself killed?"

"Not at the cost of yours Devon!" He was quite serious in his response, she decided it wouldn't be fair to tease him anymore. She was still getting accustomed to people's character and personalities, it seemed there were somethings the Doctor didn't find funny. She gave him a big grin and left.

* * *

Devon sat at the small desk in her quarters, going through her correspondence and functional reports. Popping another strawberry into her mouth she tucked her legs up under herself. Her screen beeped, indicating a new message had been received. Opening it she read the lines of text quickly, it was from Starfleet. A huge smile spread across her face, untucking her legs and leaning forward she re-read the message. After a moment, she stood and she walked to the middle of the living room, standing there still she let the news sink in a moment before having her very own little silent victory dance. Calming herself, she went back and sat down. She tapped her come badge.

"Lieutenant Kitto to Captain Kirk." She tried to calm down, she sounded like a giddy teenager.

"This is Kirk, what is it Chief?" Kirk's voice was gruff and heavy with sleep.

"I'm sorry Sir, did I wake you?" She wasn't really sorry.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. What's going on?" He cleared his throat.

"I just received the message Sir, from Starfleet...about the promotion."

"So they can. Move quick when they want to." He replied.

"I wanted to thank you Sir." She had had a whole speech ready but she found herself lost for words.

"You're welcome Kitto, you deserve it. You've proven yourself."

"That means a lot Captain, coming from you, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye but..." He interrupted her.

"Kitto stop, you deserve it, besides, I figured I owed you. Just don't try to lead a munity against me alright?" She could hear he was joking.

"I'll try Sir, thank you again. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't, Kirk out." She sat for a moment, thinking how strange it was that the only person at the Academy she had ever had a problem with was now the reason she had been promoted, funny how the people you least expect to, could have the biggest impact on your life.

* * *

 ** _Hows it going so far? Hope you're enjoying? LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	4. Chapter 4

Devon stood at her station, it had been eighty three hours since Commander Spock had requested the Enterprise to observe a nebula they had encountered, she stifled the yawn she could feel twitching at the sides of her mouth. Peering at Kirk, she noted that he'd slumped even further into his chair. He was seemingly more bored than she was.

"Any changes Chief? Any Klingon ships in the vicinity?" Kirk looked at her hopefully, she looked at her console and back to him.

"No Captain, we're in no danger." She swore he scowled at her, not liking her answer.

"Spock! What are we looking at here?" He must have decided that if he couldn't beat Commander Spock he may as well join him. Standing he went to Spock's station.

"Fascinating Captain." Spock responded, still looking at the read outs from his console.

"Oh yeah?" Kirk didn't sound convinced.

"The nebula is a typical interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases Captain. This one occupies a region twice the diameter of the Earth's Moon."

"Umhum." Kirk's eyes had glazed over.

"It certainly is beautiful Commander Spock." Devon spoke, Kirk looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite make out.

"Beautiful Lieutenant Commander?" Spock queried.

"Yes Sir, don't you think so? The fluorescence is caused by the embedded hot stars is it not?" She asked.

"I do not see the merits in equating beauty to science Lieutenant Commander, you are right however in the cause of the pigmentation."

"Humans have the capacity to find beauty in all things Commander Spock." Devon smiled at him, use to his unwavering logic.

"I didn't know you were a romantic Kitto?" Kirk was provoking her she knew it. She felt her cheeks flush slightly, she was annoyed at his tone, feeling he was laughing at her.

"Captain." She acknowledged, not trusting herself to respond as one should when addressing a Captain on the Bridge of his ship. He butted out his chest, seemingly pleased with himself that he had got one up on her. She chastised herself for speaking up in the first place, making a mental note not to make the same mistake again.

"This nebula is showing signs of being a star-forming region Captain." Spock continued on, oblivious. "The formations of gas, dust, and other materials look to be coming together to form denser regions."

"Layman's terms Mister Spock?" Kirk questioned.

"It will attract further matter, and eventually will become dense enough to form stars. The remaining material will form planets and other planetary system objects." Devon answered, her tone purposely condescending. Kirk turned back to her, crossing his arms in front of his chest he eyed her shadily.

"Thank you Chief." He spoke pointedly.

"You're welcome Captain." She gave him a saccharine smile, one all, she thought to herself. He walked over to her station, she looked up at him, unnerved at the way his blue eyes bored into hers.

"Your shift is over isn't it Chief?" He asked.

"Yes Sir." She answered cautiously.

"Spock, you have the conn. Chief, let's go get some lunch shall we?" He didn't wait for her reply, beginning to make his way to the door. She stared after him for a moment, before seeing that Lieutenant Lemkuhl was already standing beside her, ready to take over. She began to follow, catching him up at the door.

"After you Chief." Kirk waved his hand in front of him. She walked past him, pausing so that they could walk side by side. "I don't know about you but I'm starving." Devon was completely perplexed, why was he making small talk? Why did he ask her to join him for lunch? They never made small talk. They had never eaten lunch together. They rode the turbolift in silence, they walked down the corridor to the mess in silence, finally it was too much for Devon.

"Captain, Commander Spock should finish his observations in another nine hours." She wasn't quite sure why she was telling him this, she just so desperately wanted to say anything other than have to carry on with neither of them talking anymore.

"Thank god." He exhaled dramatically. Walking into the mess, the place was teeming with activity. Different shifts sat together, some eating breakfast, others dinner. The ship never slept. Kirk took two trays and handing one to Devon, joined the queue for food.

"Thank you Captain." She said as he handed her the tray, he just nodded in response. Kirk's face lit up when he faced Chef, a burly man in his late fifties.

"Nice to see you Chef, what do you recommend?" Devon was taken back at the easy and laid back way Kirk interacted with others. She was seeing a different side to him, one she'd never been on the receiving end of. Friendly.

"Ah Captain! You know everything is good! Might I suggest the Plomeek soup?" Chef lifted the lid off a large pot of steaming soup. Kirk wrinkled up his nose.

"Vulcan? No thank you Chef, I've had enough of that variety for one day." Devon couldn't stop the laugh leaving her throat, Kirk turned to her, raising his eyebrows at her. He gave her a wink.

"Perhaps the chicken then?" Chef offered.

"Indeed, the chicken please." Kirk smiled.

"And for you Lieutenant Commander?" Chef turned his attention to Devon.

"The same please no green beans." She answered.

"You know you should eat your vegetables Chief, how do expect to grow big and strong?" Kirk teased her.

"From other vegetables Captain, any other than green beans." She felt her guard going down.

"Not a fan huh? I'll be honest they're not high on my list also." Kirk took his tray back and then waiting for Devon to get her meal they both sat at a small table in the corner of the mess.

"So, tell me. How do you know so much about nebulas?" Kirk asked her between mouthfuls.

"I studied advanced Astrophysics at the Academy." She answered, after thanking him for the napkin he handed her.

"That wasn't on the curriculum?" Kirk questioned.

"No, it was extra, I needed to get my credits up." She answered honestly. "We can't all be naturally talented like you Captain." She added on, he pointed his fork laden with chicken at her.

"You were talented too Kitto, still are. Don't be so tough on yourself." He said before popping the forkful of food in his mouth.

"Thank you Sir." He gave her a grin, letting her see the mushed up chicken in his mouth, she couldn't help but laugh again. "You didn't like me at the Academy." She watched for his reaction, he placed another forkful in his mouth.

"I didn't." He finally responded.

"Has your opinion changed?" She asked, feeling equally bold and exposed at the same time.

"I don't really know you Kitto." He answered honestly, cutting his apple in half and offering her a piece. She took it and bit into the crunchy fruit, catching the juice at the corner of her mouth with her finger.

"I suppose that's true."

"Why did you ride me so hard in the Maru test?" He asked.

"I figured I was doing you a favour." She replied, Kirk raised his eyebrows.

"A favour? You said that at the time if I recall correctly, I didn't know what you meant by that back then and I still don't now."

"You never came and asked me. I figured that if I or anybody else was ever going to serve under you then you better be the best you can be. Wasn't that the whole idea of the test in the first place?" He slowly nodded.

"But I cheated?" He questioned further watching her nibble round the core of the apple.

"Yes, you did."

"Well, I bet I can guess your opinion on that." It was her turn to raise eyebrows.

"Really? Go on."

"You didn't like it." He said, she laughed, finishing her water.

"Wrong Sir, I was impressed."

"Bullshit." Kirk replied loudly, which resulted in the nearby tables full of Ensigns to stop what they were doing and peer over. Devon shrugged her shoulders. "I got a commendation for that you know?" He told her proudly, Devon placed her cutlery neatly on her plate, avoiding his stare.

"I did know." She looked around, the nearby crew now trying desperately not to look like they were eavesdropping on their conversation. They fell into a comfortable silence, she watched him finish is lunch. "You're not going to eat your green beans Sir?" She pointed at the discarded vegetables on his plate.

"I think we've finally found something we agree on Kitto." He gave her a friendly smile, an olive branch she supposed.

"Khurana, where does that name come from?" He asked, she was impressed he knew her middle name.

"It's of Sikh origin." She answered. "My adoptive parents were Indian." If Kirk had any more questions he knew well enough he wasn't yet in a position to ask.

"What about Tiberius?" She countered, a smirk on her face.

"That was my Grandfather's name, on my Father's side. Nearly got landed it as a first name from all accounts, well that's at least what my Mother told me. I was named after my Mother's Father. George, my older Brother was named after our Dad." Devon noted the dark mist that settled over his eyes as he spoke, he was in no doubt that she must have known who his Father was. It was required reading at the Academy.

"Near miss." He was thankful of her lightening the mood.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"You have a Brother? Do you see him often?"

"Not as much as I would like. What about you, any siblings?" It was unnerving to Kirk how easy it felt to him to talk about his personal life to someone he had never seen eye to eye with, until now it seemed.

"No siblings." Devon answered succinctly, they fell into a silence again.

"You weren't impressed." He looked at her, noticing the faintest smattering of freckles across her nose.

"Excuse me?" She was lost.

"I don't believe you were impressed that I cheated, you don't seem the type to deviate from policy." She sat back, taking him in. She wondered how to respond, did he want her to open up to him? Did he want her to be honest?

"I can't make you believe me if you don't want to Captain, all I can say is that I was, still are. I respect what you stand up for, how you approach your Captaincy." Kirk was surprised, it was the first time he genuinely felt like Kitto was being honest with him and that they shared something in common.

"Thank you Chief." He answered sincerely. "What do you think my approach is?" He couldn't help but ask, intrigued by what her answer may be.

"Keep it simple, challenge the status quo, be true to yourself and don't compromise on your principles." She countered.

"How do you know…?" He was shocked, she'd hit the nail on the head.

"Because I guess, I'm the same. Wouldn't you know it Captain? Another thing in common, we better be careful, we might end up getting on"" She laughed.

"Different sides of the same coin." Kirk whispered.

"Pardon me Sir, I didn't quite catch that?" Devon edged closer. Kirk seemed to shake out of his daydream.

"Oh nothing, it doesn't matter. Well Chief, thanks for lunch."

"I didn't pay Sir."

"It's a figure of speech Kitto." Kirk looked bemused.

"Oh, yes. Sorry Sir. Your welcome." He laughed, a wide grinned laugh she'd only seen when he was with his friends. It felt good that she had elicited the same response. They both stood and discarded their trays, making their way back through the endless corridors.

"What do you with your down time Kitto?" Kirk asked.

"Oh, all sorts of things. Play hockey, listen to music, paint, write…" She realised she was rambling.

"So, not much then?" Kirk replied sarcastically.

"No Sir! Not much."

"Some of the bridge crew have a monthly poker game, you should come, if you know how to play?" Another olive branch.

"I know how to play Captain, sure, thank you." The turbolift stopped and Devon watched as the Captain walked out, he turned before the door closed.

"You were really impressed?" He asked again, the door started closing but just before it did she leaned her head to the side so that he could still see her.

"Nah, not really." She reckoned it was her turn to torment him a little.

* * *

 ** _Let me know what you think by leaving a review, it would be very much appreciated. In any case, hope you're enjoying the story. LLAP;-) XOXO_**


	5. Chapter 5

Devon shielded her eyes from the sun beating down on them, as far as the eye could see it was sand and semi-buried caves. She wrapped the headscarf closer around her head, even with her goggles on the rays of the sun made everything a stark bright yellow. She could feel the sand blasting against her exposed skin and finding its way into the openings of her uniform.

"My God it's hotter than hell Jim!" She turned to look at McCoy, laughing to herself at his exclamation.

"Come on Bones, quit your whining." Kirk strode over to Devon.

"Which direction did Spock say the caverns were in Chief?" He asked, Devon looked down at her tricorder. She pointed ahead of her.

"Twenty kilometres north Captain." She answered, her voice slightly muffled from the fabric covering her face.

"Right, come on. Let's go before it gets dark." Kirk set off, leading the charge. Devon followed after, careful to keep her eye on McCoy. From her previous experience on away missions he had a tendency to wonder. After an hour or so McCoy stopped and dropped his bag into the sand.

"We need to stop Jim, we all need to drink some water." He shouted over the wind, it had slowly increased around them making the visibility low and their pace had slowed down to a trudge.

"Alright but quick! We need to reach cover before this wind turns into a storm!" Devon shouted at the pair.

"A storm! When the hell did that happen?" Kirk shouted back at her, trying not to get sand into his canteen as he took a swig of water.

"Commander Spock just sent through the updated forecast, we should make it to the caves before it comes in Captain, but we need to move swiftly." Devon took a gulp from her own canteen before swiftly placing her scarf back over her face.

"You can never trust the weather man!" McCoy yelled. They all picked up their stuff and quickened the pace. After another forty five minutes they came to the entrance of the caves, Devon stood in the entryway, letting the Captain and Doctor pass her. The two men stood in the entrance panting and resting their hands on the top of their thighs. Pulling her bag off her back Devon opened it and pulled two motion sensors out. Activating them both she placed them at the mouth of the cave.

"What are you doing?" McCoy asked curiously.

"My job." Devon responded with a wink of her eye, pushing him further into the cave with a hand to his back.

"Yeah well, make sure you do. Trouble has a canny way of finding Jim Kirk wherever he goes." He responded over his shoulder.

"You don't need to tell me that Doctor." Devon slipped past him, overtaking the Captain. After traversing the narrow tunnels, where in parts the trio had to get on their hands and knees they finally made it to the cavern their co-ordinates had been leading them to. Dumping her bag she stretched her arms above her head, her shoulders cracking in protest. She pulled her goggles off from around her neck and finally unwrapped the scarf from around her face and head revelling in the feeling of freeness. Pulling her hair from its knot she tossed her long curls over her head and shook out all the sand. Flipping it back it lay messily down her back, she didn't care, her face was caked in sand anyway from where it had seeped in between her goggles and scarf. Mixing with her sweat it had dried on, she felt it crack when she twitched her mouth from side to side.

"Quit staring Jim." McCoy came up beside Kirk, he'd been watching him watch the Chief for the past few seconds. Kirk snapped out of it and looked at McCoy.

"What!? Bones…I….!" Kirk tried to get some words out.

"Whatever you say Jim." McCoy slapped him on the back, a puff of sand exploding from the material. "Damned sand, the stuff gets everywhere!" Kirk walked up to Devon, watching her pull out all the equipment from her bag methodically.

"How long is this going to take Chief?" He asked, kneeling down next to her.

"Shouldn't be too long, the Doctor needs to retrieve his samples which should only take half an hour, I won't be long after." She gave him a smile.

"Bones! Make it quick!" He shouted over to where McCoy was setting up his own sample kits.

"Yeah Jim, I'm not exactly sat here with my feet up." Kirk rolled his eyes.

After an hour of nonstop retrieving of samples and testing the three of them suddenly stopped what they were doing when there was a rumble up above.

"What the hell was that?" McCoy asked. Devon reached for her tricorder, scanning their surrounding area.

"The storm is at full tilt, it must make some of the caverns structurally unstable. We need to wrap this up pronto Captain." Kirk nodded, looking to McCoy who quickly started finishing up collecting his samples. There was another rumble, dust fell from the ceiling causing the three of them to cough.

"Forget the samples, let's get out of here!" Kirk shouted at the pair. Just as he began throwing things into his own bag a loud cracking sound could be heard from above. Kirk watched as a large piece of the ceiling broke off and dropped between where he was stood and where McCoy was kneeling, packing his bag. Devon looked up just in time to see a portion of stone begin the slide off one of the steep inclines to their left.

"McCoy! MOVE!" She shouted, he turned in horror before looking up himself and seeing the jagged rocks careering towards him. Devon launched herself towards him but she was too far away, her action only resulting in her getting hit by heavy shrapnel.

"Bones! Kitto!" Kirk ran towards the pair, falling to his knees he desperately began to pull off the small rocks covering Devon. Moaning she felt Kirk turn her over onto her back, his hands wiping the dust and debris from her face and hair.

"I'm alright, I'm alright Captain." She wheezed out.

"Are you sure?" Kirk asked concerned, helping her get into a sitting position.

"Yeah, I'm alright…Doctor McCoy!?" She realised that she was sat next to a pile of rubble and McCoy was nowhere to be seen. "We need to get him out!" Both Devon and Kirk instantly began grabbing at the rubble, flinging it away. Their hands worked quickly, pulling and seizing at rock until the glimmer of a science uniform could be seen.

"Bones! Bones!" Kirk shouted, finally they managed to pull him out, careful of any injuries he might have sustained. Devon immediately placed her cheek over his mouth, she sighed when she felt his breath on her skin. Looking him over she winced when she saw the odd angle of his right leg, gently placing her fingers through his hair she could already feel the bumps forming all over his skull.

"He must have taken a pretty big hit to the head, he's unconscious but he's breathing. Heartbeat and pulse are steady. Captain, can you grab me my tricorder?" Devon didn't have time to think that it might not have been appropriate to order her Captain, Kirk rushed over to her bag and grabbing the tricorder leapt back and placed it in her hand. She quickly ran it across McCoy's body, frowning at the readouts.

"What is it?" Kirk asked.

"He's got multiple broken bones, there doesn't seem to be any organ damage although I'm not happy with the way some of his ribs are resting against his lungs, we're going to have to be real careful if we move him." Devon coughed after she spoke, still wheezing and taking deep breaths.

"You're not alright Kitto." Kirk exclaimed again, looking keenly at her pained face.

"I can't seem to catch my breath, must have inhaled some dust, I'm fine Sir." Their attention was drawn back to McCoy when he uttered a groan.

"Bones, it's alright." Kirk tried to reassure him as McCoy creased his eyes open and shut. He tried to move but Devon placed her hands on his shoulders, stopping him from possibly injuring himself more.

"What…happened?" McCoy spluttered out.

"The sky fell Doctor." Devon gave him a sympathetic smile.

"My head is killing me."

"Hopefully knocked some sense into you, now stay still I'm going to get the med kit." Devon gave Kirk a look, nodding he knelt beside McCoy as she went to retrieve the med kit from her bag. Coming back over and kneeling against the pair she loaded a hypospray with a painkiller and gave it to McCoy. "Better?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks." McCoy was obviously still in pain. Kirk tapped his communicator.

"Kirk to Enterprise, come in Enterprise." There was only static, he looked at Devon. She pressed her own and repeated Kirk's words.

"Nothing Sir, the storm must be interfering with our signals." She looked to McCoy, he was a horrible shade of ash white, she knew they needed to get back to the ship as soon as possible. "I'm going to go to the mouth of the cave Captain, the signal may be better up there."

"Alright, be careful Kitto." Kirk tossed her a phaser.

"Hang in there Doc, we're going to get you out of here." With that she began making her way back to the entrance. She was finding it hard to breathe and her chest hurt like hell. After what felt like hours and a few trips and falls along the way she stopped at the entrance. She felt dizzy, closing her eyes and resting against the side of the cave she could feel herself falling asleep where she stood. A moment later her eyes darted open and she dragged herself up to a standing position. The wind and sand howled outside, creating a spiral of dark dust around her. She tapped her communicator again, this time faintly being able to hear Uhura talk back to her.

"Uhura! We need to get off this planet NOW!" She shouted into her communicator. "Doctor McCoy has been injured, he needs medical attention!"

"The storm is stopping us from beaming you back up, we'll have to send a shuttle but we can't land in the current weather. Commander Spock is projecting the storm will end in the next four hours. We'll continue to determine which is the quickest way to get to you." Uhura's voice was quiet and her words interrupted by static.

"We don't have that long Uhura!" Devon shouted back, there was no answer. "Uhura!" Nothing. "Uhura, come in! Enterprise come in!" She only heard static, swearing to herself she stood still a moment, wondering what to do the sensors she had placed in the entryway when they had arrived she started to make her way back. It took her longer than she expected, her chest feeling like someone wasstood on it. She checked her own pulse, placing her dusty fingers to her neck. It was racing; she opened her tricorder and scanned herself from head to toe. Closing the tricorder and placing it back she stared ahead, the tunnel winding down to the cavern staring back at her.

"Shit." She muttered to herself. Taking a deep breath she continued on, finally making it back to the cavern. Kirk looked up from McCoy to see Devon make her way over, he noticed her complexion immediately, she was very pale.

"Kitto? Are you alright?" Kirk watched her slowly lower herself next to McCoy, pulling out her tricorder and scanning McCoy again.

"I'm fine Captain, the storm is preventing the Enterprise from beaming us up, they're either going to try and send a shuttle or beam us out when they can." Kirk creased his brow in concern.

"How long is that going to take?" He asked, looking at McCoy who was in a state of semi-consciousness.

"Spock thinks about four hours." She whispered back. "How is he?" She asked him, looking at Kirk's face and seeing the concern plastered across it.

"Not good, I don't think he has four hours Chief." Kirk lowered his tone, Devon nodded, placing her hand next to McCoy's shoulder she lowered her head towards his and spoke into his ear.

"Doctor McCoy, Doctor can you hear me?"

"I can hear you Kitto." McCoy's voice was quiet and weak, he lazily opened his eyes.

"Doctor, I can't risk moving you and we're going to be here for a while longer, you need to tell me what to do to get you into a stable position. Can you do that?" McCoy closed his eyes again but he nodded, taking Devon through the steps she needed to make to give him a fighting chance of staying aliveuntil the Enterprise could get them out of there. Devon carried out McCoy's instructions meticulously. Kirk watched on, giving his friend words of comfort along the way.

"How long has it been?" Kirk sat himself next to Devon after a while, she hadn't left the Doctor's side. She looked at the readouts on her tricorder and creased her brow in confusion. "Chief?" He watched her look back up to him and then back to her tricorder.

"I'm sorry Captain, what did you say?" Kirk was really starting to get worried, her face was pale even with the dark sand caked on and her breathing was short and shallow.

"I said how long has it been Chief?" He repeated his question but knew she hadn't understood him, even the second time round. "Sit back Chief." He instructed, helping her lean against a boulder, her limbs lying limply by her sides and in front of her. He knew something wasn't right by the very fact that she had allowed him to place his arms around her shoulders and slowly lower her back.

"I'm fine Captain, just a bit dizzy." She tried to brush his hand away from her face but he avoided her lazy movement and placed the back of his hand against her right cheek. Checking her pulse he glanced at McCoy who was heavily sedated.

"I really need your expertise right about now Bones." Kirk muttered to himself. "Your skin is clammy Chief and your pulse is racing." Devon didn't respond to what the Captain was saying, finding it more and more difficult to concentrate on her surroundings. "You need to hang on Kitto, I can't have two of you dying on me alright." Kirk laughed nervously.

"You can't get rid of me that easily Sir." Devon managed to give him a lopsided grin.

"I told you not thank me too early Kitto." Kirk responded.

"You were right." Her eyes were closing as she spoke, her breath shallow.

"Wait a minute Chief, you're finally admitting I'm right about something?" Kirk carried on talking to her, trying desperately to keep her alert for as long as possible.

"I figured I'm about to die anyways…" Each word was punctuated by stuttered breaths. Kirk was about to respond when a beeping noise caught his attention, looking around he couldn't work out where it was coming from. "Sensors." Devon rasped out, Kirk turned back to her in confusion and then quickly realised what she meant.

"The sensors at the entrance? They must have sent a shuttle…Kitto…Kitto….?"

* * *

 ** _Thank you for the follows and favourites, glad you're enjoying it! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review (if you're so inclined). LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Three Years Earlier**

Professor Yunji Hwang stood at the front of the classroom, surveying the fresh young faces of the command track Cadets in front of him. He smiled to himself, knowing that all of them were sat there, questioning whether or not they had what it took. Wondering how they were ever going to know everything they needed to know. He'd seen it time and time again. He'd seen time and time again each one of them realising what it really took to command a star ship, it was a point of pride to him that he helped shape their futures and led them to their destiny. Stroking his bearded chin he smiled at his captive audience.

"How do you know your crew will be the best they can be under your command?" Kirk watched the PADD stylus in the man's hand wiggle between his fingers as he spoke. He glanced around at his classmates, none of them wanting to speak up first. They were all still trying to suss the others out, none wanting to make the first move. "Come on! How do you know your crew are all suitably qualified and experienced?" Hwang repeated his question. A few of the Cadets shifted in their seats.

"They graduated?" Kirk offered up with a smirk which resulted in muted laughter from his classmates and an eye roll from Hwang.

"It is essential that all crew whose activities have the potential to impact your ship are suitably qualified and experienced to carry out their roles. This includes both those who directly carry out operations and others whose roles, if inadequately conceived or executed, may affect, let's say, safety in less visible ways. Who can give me an example?" Hwang stood and stared at all the Cadets, huffing when none of them raised their hand. "For example, through introducing latent technical or logistical weaknesses." He pressed further, giving them an earnest look. Willing one of them to at least try to answer. There was a flurry of activity in the room, Cadets desperately trying to make notes on their PADDs.

"Professor, surely suitably means suitably and maybe not particularly well?" Kirk queried, Hwang looked impressed.

"Certainly, Starfleet perceive 'suitably'." Hwang used air quotes as he spoke. "As the ability to put skills and knowledge into practice in order to perform in an effective and efficient manner to an established standard but what else is needed from your crew? How do we get from that, to 'particularly well' as Cadet Kirk so expertly put it?" The professor again looked around the room expectantly. A small female cadet at the front of the room tentatively raised her hand. "Yes Cadet Suhr." Hwang pointed his stylus at her as he spoke.

"Character, Sir?" She offered up hesitantly. Hwang lifted his arms above his head in celebration.

"Yes Cadet Suhr! Yes! Character, there are many other factors that contribute to a person's competence. What else?" He asked, walking back and forth in front of the class. A few of the Cadets that had slumped in their chair sat themselves up, suddenly interested in the topic of conversation.

"Prior Experience?" Another Cadet volunteered, earning him a nod from the Professor.

"Attitude?" Said another.

"Yes! What else?" Hwang continued on.

"Behaviour." Kirk shouted out.

"Exactly, all this and more contributes. Their aptitude, skills and qualifications all matter! Cadet Kirk, which other Cadet do you know of, who's not on the command track, which other Cadet do you think displays all of these behaviours positively?" Kirk was taken aback a moment, being put on the spot and having to give a name of one of his peers.

"I'm not sure Sir?" Kirk replied.

"Come on Kirk! You're taught peer review from the very start, who's stood out to you?" Hwang pressed on. Kirk drew in a breath and stroked his jawline with his hand.

"Cadet Kitto Sir." He finally answered.

"Kitto? Remind me Kirk, which one is that?" Hwang went to his PADD, clearly ready to pull up the personnel file.

"Devon Kitto, she's on Tactical track Sir. She led a munity against me when I failed the Kobayashi Maru Sir." Kirk reluctantly added.

"Ah, of course! How could I not have made the connection! That will become the stuff of legend Cadet Kirk believe me!" Kirk didn't like how much Hwang seemed to be enjoying himself. A moment later the large screen behind him lit up with Kitto's personnel file, Kirk looked at the picture of her. Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief, or so he perceived them to. The edges of her mouth were slightly upturned, not in amusement but in pride. Somebody cleared their throat in the classroom, bringing Kirk out of his daydream. He realised all eyes were on him.

"I'm surprised Cadet Kirk, that you pick Cadet Kitto as an example of a 'suitably qualified and experienced person'? I would have thought your ego is too bruised?" The professor rested against his desk, crossing his arms and waiting for Kirk's response. He knew exactly what he was doing, and so did Kirk. It was a loaded question if ever he heard one.

"I've got to admit, my ego took a beating…and my pride, and maybe we don't see eye to eye but I learnt something that day. I learnt that they're will be people around you that will have different opinions, different ways of doing things. They may have a set of skills you yourself don't possess, but using those skills…or being told you're wrong is just as important if not more so than being surrounded by people that simply do their job…don't think…don't question. Does that make sense? I don't think I explained myself…" Kirk stumbled over his words, highly aware that he held the entire room in rapture.

"No, Cadet Kirk, I think you explained yourself perfectly well. And you're right, Cadet Kitto has always been recognised by the Academy as someone who demonstrates the behaviours necessary to be deemed 'the best they can be' to bring us back to my original question. You are an excellent judge of character Cadet Kirk, which is a very important trait to have." Hwang turned back to his screen, missing the look of guilt that passed over Kirk's face. "I bet you and Cadet Kitto are good friends now are you not?" The professor threw over his shoulder.

"What? I mean, pardon Professor?" Kirk stuttered, Hwang turned and looked at Kirk.

"You and Cadet Kitto must have become friends after that? A common ground, a shared experience?" Kirk was at a loss for words, he really didn't want to confess that in reality, he had shouted at her and not spoken to her since. Even going so far as to not acknowledging her presence or polite greetings when they found themselves in the same room.

"Yes Sir, yes we are."

* * *

 ** _Thank you for the favourites and to those that are following this story, I hope you're still enjoying it! Please feel kind and leave a review. LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	7. Chapter 7

Leonard McCoy had woken up seventy two hours after returning from the away mission, he was tired, sore and was in desperate need of a shower. His broken bones had been mended, he'd been pumped with painkillers but he was still covered in sand.

"You wouldn't believe how many of the Nurses offered to give you a sponge bath Doctor McCoy." Christine Chapel couldn't help but laugh as she teased the CMO, especially when his face flushed a crimson red and he stuttered over his words.

"That's quite enough of that Nurse Chapel!" McCoy tried to regain some dignity.

"Yes Doctor, my apologies." Christine answered, stifling a laugh as she walked away. She turned at the last minute, catching his arm with her hand. "It's good to have you back Doctor McCoy, and in one piece. You had us worried there for a moment." Her lean fingers grasped softly around his forearm, McCoy took in her angelic features.

"Thank you Christine." He whispered back, faintly embarrassed by using her first name. Looking down at the PADD in his hand he reviewed Devon's vitals. The damage to her spleen had been repaired and all the blood she'd lost replaced. She was now being kept asleep, allowing her time to recuperate. McCoy walked over to stand by her bed, she still looked pale. He instinctively brushed a few stray curls off her brow, smiling to himself that if she had been awake and he'd tried to do that his hand would have been swotted away and he would have been told not to fuss. All the muck and grime had been cleaned off her face, the nurses obviously more inclined to take care of a fellow female Officer, one that was universally liked. Well, all but one he mused. Hearing the Med Bay door open behind him he watched Kirk walk in and head directly towards him.

"Speak of the devil." McCoy muttered under his breath. Usually when the Captain would make a visit he would always go to the Nurse's station first and after maybe ten or so minutes of flirting go find McCoy. Not this time, Kirk stopped in front of his friend but peered round to look at his CTO. McCoy saw something flash over Kirk's face but he wasn't sure what it was.

"How's she doing Bones?" Kirk kept his voice low, not wanting to disturb Devon or the other sleeping patients.

"She'll be fine Jim." Bones answered, still watching the strange mix of emotions play over his friend's face. "What's going on Jim?" He asked after a moment of silence, his eyebrow quirking in suspicion.

"What? Nothing, I just wanted an update." Kirk quickly glanced at him as he spoke, not wanting to give away how he was truly feeling. McCoy was going to question him further but decided against it.

"I guess I should thank you Jim, for saving my life. Although I'm not sure it counts when you were the one who got me into that predicament in the first place." Kirk laughed and patted McCoy on the back affectionately.

"It was Kitto really Bones…" He stopped himself short, McCoy raised an eyebrow at him. "Ah Bones! I knew she wasn't alright, she kept telling me she was fine but I could see it on her face. I let her walk back to the surface knowing she was hiding something from me, she could have passed out, or worse!" Kirk ran a hand over his face, finally feeling exhausted from the guilt he had been carrying.

"It not your fault that she's a damned fool Jim."

"I'm her Captain, I should have done better." Kirk shook his head.

"Well, what's done is done Jim, we're all here and we're all alive. That's all we can ask for isn't it?" Kirk wasn't convinced. Kitto's selflessness was what made her a great Officer but he worried that at times she was too ready and willing to sacrifice her own wellbeing for that of others. He didn't think she had a death wish, her attitude was admirable but as Captain it was his duty to protect his crew, which included Devon K. Kitto. He wasn't quite ready to admit that he wanted to protect her a little more for reasons he wasn't quite ready to admit, even to himself.

* * *

"Green Beans! Seriously Betty!" Senior Nurse Betty Piggott laughed at Devon's scrunched up face at the sight of her vegetable nemesis.

"You need to build your strength up Devon, besides, they say if you try something seven times you end up liking it." Devon raised an eyebrow in response, Betty rolled her eyes.

"Really, does that apply to everything and anything?" Devon teased.

"I wouldn't know. Anyway, stop delaying and eat!" Betty pointed at the meal sat in front of her friend. She'd brought the meal from the mess to Devon's quarters, citing the need for fresh food grown in the bio-bays rather than the replicated version available in crew accommodations. Devon forked the offending article and eyed it suspiciously before popping it into her mouth.

"Ugh! Betty, I can't." Devon whined childishly.

"You can and you will, I need you back in action. From all accounts it's falling to pieces on the Bridge. You know you're a vital member of the team." Betty sat back in her chair, happy to see that her friend had resigned herself to her fate and was now popping green beans in her mouth like they were going out of fashion.

"Thank you for the compliment but I wouldn't go that far." Devon mumbled with a mouthful.

"Tosh, don't give me the whole 'who me?' Commander Spock has always sung your praises." Betty picked up Devon's now empty plate and took it to the small galley. "When have you been cleared for duty?" She asked as she tidied up. Devon watched her from her chair, appreciative of such a caring friend.

"Tomorrow actually."

"You feel ready?" She threw over her shoulder.

"As I'll ever be." Devon stood and stretched out, still feeling a few pangs of pain from her surgery. "Doctor McCoy gave me strict instructions to follow for the next few weeks." Betty turned back to her and opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself short. "What is it Betty?" Devon asked.

"I was worried." She answered simply.

"I know, and I'm sorry I worried you. You're my best friend Betts, I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." Devon gave her a warm smile.

"I know you and the Captain have not always seen eye to eye but I think you should know, when the away team brought you back he didn't leave your side." Devon was confused, the away mission had become a blur to her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, you and McCoy came into the Med Bay and Doctor Mitchell whisked you away immediately. When you came out of surgery the Captain was still there, waiting." Devon listened closely.

"He was probably just making sure Doctor McCoy was alright, they're very close friends Betty." Devon suggested.

"I said he waited for you to come out of surgery Devon, not the Doctor."

"I see." Devon couldn't think of anything else to say.

"You see? What does that mean?" Betty asked.

"I don't know what that means? What do you mean by telling me this? What does the Captain mean by doing that?" Betty shrugged her shoulders in response.

* * *

The following day and Devon stood at her station on the Bridge. The Captain and Commander Spock had welcomed her back warmly, saying that she had been missed. It felt good to be back in the fray, exchanging reports and opinions with her fellow crew members.

They were approaching a Class M planet, for the past forty eight hours Commander Spock had been scanning the planet, finally determining it was safe for an away mission, much to Kirk's delight.

"I don't understand you Jim? You've just got back from one planet that wanted to kill you and now you're setting foot on another? Are you out of your goddamn mind?" McCoy stood next to Kirk, his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised.

"Come off it Bones! I was fine, you were the one with multiple broken bones." Kirk answered glibly.

"Well, count me out. I've had enough 'adventure' for the moment." McCoy replied sternly. Kirk rolled his eyes at him and went to stand by Spock's station.

"Commander Spock, will you ready an away team. Oh and ask Lieutenant Martinez to head up tactical." Devon couldn't help but look up and in Kirk's direction when she heard his last remark. Without really thinking she started to walk over to him, stopping when he himself turned and began walking back to his chair.

"Chief?" Kirk questioned.

"Captain, may I ask why you requested Martinez for the away mission and not myself Sir?" Devon took a breath, trying to calm herself. She knew she was being reactionary, she was stood in the middle of the Bridge, and all eyes were on them. She mentally berated herself for not asking to speak to him in private.

"Lieutenant Martinez needs the experience Chief, it'll be good for him to get out there don't you think?" Kirk gave her a saccharine smile, walked past her and sat down. She turned and watched him, she could feel her blood beginning to boil.

"It would." She replied through gritted teeth. "But I think I should be there to oversee his performance Sir, and in case anything goes wrong." She continued.

"He'll be fine Chief, you're worrying for no reason." Kirk replied dismissively. Devon looked up and caught McCoy's eye, he was watching them intently, knowing that the way the conversation was going, it wasn't going to end well. She re-focussed back on Kirk.

"Captain Kirk, as Chief Tactical Officer it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of all away team crew members. Also, as Lieutenant Martinez comes under my command, I should be present at any development training." Her voice had become tight and strained. Kirk finally looked at her, she couldn't read his eyes but she had a gut feeling. Her gut was telling her he didn't trust her, she didn't know why but he didn't trust her.

"Lieutenant Commander Kitto, I appreciate everything you've just said but I stand by my orders. You will not be a member of the away team this time." Kirk's voice was stern, warning her not to argue. She opened her mouth to argue back nonetheless, but stopped herself.

"Yes Captain." She finally answered. She started back to her station but suddenly spun on her heel. "Do you have a problem with me Sir?" She asked, Kirk looked at her shocked.

"Problem? Kitto, what are you on about?" Kirk asked, slightly bemused which only made her angrier.

"I've accompanied you on every away mission, why now? Isit related to what happened on the last one because I can assure you…?"

"Kitto." Kirk interrupted.

"Captain please, let me finish…" Devon tried to continue.

"No! That's enough! You heard my orders, they still stand." Kirk stared her down but Devon was too angry and too upset to listen to her brain, which was telling her to shut up.

"You're a son of a bitch." She turned away from him.

"What did you say?" Kirk called after her, she stopped and looked back at him.

"I said you're a son of a bitch…Sir." McCoy took a step or two forward, putting himself in between the two as Kirk had risen to his feet also by this time.

"Devon, that's enough." He whispered to her, she glanced at him momentarily, seeing his pleading eyes but chose to ignore him, standing her ground. Kirk was still staring at her in shock, as long as he'd known her on the Enterprise, he'd never seen this type of behaviour from her.

"Chief, I think you better go and take a minute." He raised both his hands in a surrendering motion.

"I don't need a minute Kirk, I need you to make the right call." She answered back.

"What's this about Chief?"

"You know exactly what it's about, I'm surprised it took you this long. And disappointed that you proved me wrong and everybody else right." McCoy placed a hand up on her shoulder, ready to hold her back.

"Devon STOP!" McCoy ground out, pleading with her, knowing she would regret every word she was saying when the red mist she was in finally settled.

"I don't think you were ready to come back to work Chief, I think you need more time to recuperate from your injuries. Why don't you go with Bones and he can check you out." Kirk's voice was still calm but Devon could tell he was bubbling just beneath the surface. She pointed her finger at him.

"Why don't you go to hell."

"Bones, get her off my Bridge, now." She knew she'd gone too far, she knew she'd royally screwed everything up.

"You're making a mistake not taking me with you Sir." She tried once more.

"It's my decision to make Chief." Kirk responded plainly, she finally nodded at him and feeling a tug on her arm from McCoy walked past him and off the Bridge. Once in the corridor Devon collapsed down the side of the wall and buried her head in her hands. McCoy crouched down next to her.

"What the hell was that all about?" He asked her covered face.

"I don't know? I don't know!? Ugh Leonard, I don't know what got into me? Why's he doing this?" Devon looked at McCoy pleadingly.

"Don't ask me! I'm a Doctor not a Psychologist!"

"Some help you are! I know he doesn't like me and that's fine, I've never worried about that because he's always treated me as a competent crew member but throwing me off an away mission! I don't get it?" McCoy sighed.

"No, you really don't do you." He muttered under his breath.

* * *

 ** _Thank you for the follows and favourites, if you could spend a brief moment leaving me a review and letting me know what you think it would be very much appreciated! I love to hear what you guys think! I mentioned on the last chapter of my other story I have going at the moment (Fieldwork) that I've got a busy few weeks coming up so my updates may not be as regular as usual. I'm really sorry about this and promise to get back on track ASAP. ;-) LLAP XOXO_**


	8. Chapter 8

Kirk stood on the sandy beach surveying the area around him and his team, he watched as his feet sunk underneath him, more sand, just what he needed. Although at least this time there was a lovely looking ocean, palm trees and not a hint of collapsing caves. The breeze that swept over his face and through his hair was warm and carried the scent of sweet flowers and sea salt. If all went to plan, he was considering allowing a ship wide shore leave to the planet.

"Paradise." He said to himself. Turning round he watched as Commander Spock scanned everything and anything within a hundred meter radius. Lieutenant Martinez stood close by to him looking very nervous, beads of sweat dripping down his temple. Kirk felt a pang of guilt, mainly due to the argument he had had with Devon but also because Martinez had ended up being collateral damage and was now heading up tactical on an away mission perhaps before he was completely ready. James T. Kirk didn't like feeling guilty so he quickly pushed all those thoughts to the back of his mind and walked towards Spock.

"Found anything interesting Spock?" He asked absent-mindedly.

"Interesting Captain?" Spock replied looking up to Kirk just in time to see him roll his eyes.

"Yes Spock, interesting? Never mind." Kirk turned to Martinez whose eyes were darting in every direction. "You okay Lieutenant?" He asked cautiously.

"Me? Why? I mean yes Sir? Shouldn't I be Sir? Captain." Kirk fought the urge to laugh.

"Calm yourself Lieutenant, you're doing fine. Have you done a preliminary perimeter check?" He looked at the young man earnestly, hoping he would pick up on the hint of what he was there to do. Kirk's words seemed to register and Martinez quickly nodded his head and went off to conduct the check. Watching Martinez walk down the beach, tripping on a branch and swatting away a dozen bugs Kirk had never missed the proficient, strong and experienced expertise of Devon K. Kitto so much in his life. Looking up at the sky he imagined being able to see the Enterprise with a very pissed Chief Tactical Officer stood on the Bridge looking down at him. The thought made him smile.

"Everything looks okay Sir." Martinez shouted from halfway down the beach, Kirk opened his communicator and squinted his eyes against the sunlight.

"Captain Kirk to Enterprise, come in Enterprise."

"Enterprise here." It was Kitto.

"We're all good down here Chief, what about you?" He asked slightly nervously. They hadn't spoken since their altercation on the Bridge.

"Everything is as it should be Captain, not to worry, your ship is in good hands and will be here when you're ready." There was no hint of resentment in her voice, professional as ever Kirk thought to himself. Although he couldn't think of a time he'd ever heard her use an aggressive tone (other than the other day), even when she was giving one of her personnel a dressing down her tone of voice was never antagonistic. Calm as a millpond was her approach to everything, that's what made her a great Officer. Kirk smiled to himself again, thinking that when he had witnessed her face an enemy combatant he'd never seen such a glorious warrior in all his life. He'd made a mistake not letting her be on the away mission, he'd hadn't afforded her the credit she deserved and let his personal feelings cloud his judgement. He promised himself the first thing he would do when he was back on board the Enterprise would go and apologise.

"That's good to hear Chief, we'll check in every three hours as planned. Kirk out." Closing his communicator he turned back round to Spock and Martinez. Yes, he definitely missed Kitto.

* * *

Devon sat in the command chair on the Bridge. It was strange, she'd been so blinded by personal prejudice against Kirk she hadn't realised that as a result of Kirk ordering her not to come on the away mission she would experience a first for her and be in command of the entire ship. She supposed that every cloud had a silver lining, yet she still felt very remorseful with regards to the way she had acted towards Kirk. They were to do nothing for the next nine hours while the Captain, Commander Spock and Lieutenant Martinez headed up the away team. She'd gone through the protocol, keep an eye on the crew members and keep an eye on the space around the ship. She smoothed her hands over her brunette curls which were neatly twisted into a knot at the back of her head.

"Chief!?" Devon turned to Ensign Dawn Onibala, who was manning the tactical station while she was in command.

"Yes Ensign Onibala."

"I'm detecting something on the starboard bow, I can't tell what it is Chief?" The woman looked at Kitto quizzically.

"On screen Ensign." Kitto instructed. She leant forward in the chair, trying to decipher what the speck on the screen in front of her was. "Mister Udy, what are your scans telling us?" Kitto turned to look in the direction of the science station which was currently being manned by Damion Udy, a six foot eight tall man who was so softly spoken Kitto had to crane her neck to hear him.

"It's definitely a vessel of some kind Chief, certainly not Federation." Kitto nodded at him and turned back to the screen.

"Keep an eye on it Mister Udy, Ensign Onibala raise shields forty percent, we don't know what their capabilities are but they shouldn't be able to detect such a small increase. We don't want to make them nervous. Lieutenant Uhura, are we within communication distance?" Uhura clicked away at her station.

"Yes Chief." She replied.

"Send the standard communication Lieutenant Uhura please, we'll give them a bit of space for the time being." Kitto sat and contemplated the unending number of hypothetical scenarios they might find themselves in. One of the few drawbacks of being the Chief Tactical Officer on board a starship was that a hundred and one possibilities would run through your head at any time, usually all bad. "Chief Kitto to Commander Scott." She spoke as she pressed her communication badge.

"Scotty here."

"Scotty, I want two Engineers in the transporter room, we might need to beam up the Captain and the rest of the away team at a moment's notice." She instructed.

"Aye Chief." Devon stared at the ship on the display screen, the nails on her left hand tapped on the arm of the chair. She pressed her lips together, as if she had just applied lipstick to her bottom lip and she was spreading it over the top one.

"Any response Uhura?" She asked pensively.

"No Chief, nothing yet." Devon looked at the time, it would be another hour before Kirk checked in with them.

"Chief! I'm detecting additional lifeforms on board!" Kitto spun to look at Onibala who was franticlycapturing and inputting data at her station.

"Shields up! How many?" Devon stood and walked behind the Captain's chair, grasping hold of the back with both her hands.

"At least forty Chief!" Onibala replied quickly. Devon had no time to think, quickly opening a ship wide communication, it wouldn't matter if the intruders heard her and spoke standard, they were already on board and as far as she was concerned posed an immediate catastrophic threat.

"Security alert! Intruders on board! All non-essential personnel proceed to evacuation bays, immediate lockdown on decks one through eighteen and twenty six through thirty eight. Critical system lockdown now!" Devon knew that each function had their own protocol to follow, the Bridge would be locked down, along with Engineering and life support bays. "Are the intruders on any critical decks?" Onibala checked her readings.

"Fifteen in engineering, seven on deck eight, ten are on personnel decks and eight are on Bridge level Chief." Devon knew that with the high number of intruders in Engineering they were here to disable them in some way. Plus life support was housed on deck decks were locked down which meant ten weren't going anywhere however, eight were on their way to where she stood now.

"Get as many Security teams to Engineering as you can, also send a tactical group to deck eight." She instructed Onibala.

"Aye Chief."

"What about the Captain and Commander Spock?" Uhura had got up from her station and approached Kitto, her eyes and voice full of concern.

"They're safer where they are for the moment." Devon replied, squeezing her arm in assurance. She walked to one of the large side panels at the top of the Bridge, keying in a code the wall slid forward and to one side revealing an array of weaponry. "Everybody take a phaser! Mister Udy, if you and Lieutenant Uhura wouldn't mind guarding the doors." She tossed a phaser to both Udy and Uhura who immediately went and positioned themselves at the doors ready to fire on whoever tried to come through them. Grabbing a phaser rifle Devon went and stood back in the middle of the Bridge. "Use any force necessary." She instructed. "Computer, initiate security level ten." The lights around her went dark and they were flooded in a red hue.

"Life support at sixty percent." The computerised voice informed everyone.

"They must have accessed life support." Onibala stated absently.

"They want to flush us out." Kitto murmured. "Everybody ready?" She shouted, the crew around her nodded, all of them knowing what they needed to do. A few of the crew jumped when one of the access doors shook and a loud metal clang rang out. A second later and another dint appeared on their side of the door followed by more metal laden bangs. Devon trained her sight on the entrance door and raised her rifle. "Bring it."

* * *

"Spock!" Kirk could feel the sun beating down on himand burning his nose, it hadn't been more than threehours yet and he was already bored. Nothing had happened apart from Spock finding an interesting seedand Martinez almost having a heart attack because a bird flew too close to him. "Spock! Where are you?"

"Here Captain." Kirk nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice right behind him. Turning he took a step back, Spock looked at him, his usual stoic face unchanged.

"Jesus Spock! You scared me!"

"My apologies Captain, I believe we are due to check in with the Enterprise." Spock opened his communicator, Kirk exhaled, glad that he had something to do.

"Commander Spock to Enterprise, come in Enterprise." There was no response, Spock arched an eyebrow. "Commander Spock to Enterprise, come in Enterprise." Still no response, Kirk looked at him quizzically and opened his own communicator.

"This is Captain Kirk to Enterprise, please respond." Kirk's pulse rate was increasing, all communication from an away team was monitored and replied to at all times. "Something isn't right." He said.

"Affirmative Captain." Spock replied. Kirk looked up to the blue sky as if he would be able to see what the problem was.

"What do you think has happened? Is it our equipment, is there some kind of interference?" Kirk asked, turning back to look at Spock.

"I do not know Captain. We picked up no kind of interference before we transported onto this planet Captain and our equipment is in working order. The only logical explanation as to why there is no response to our communications is that the crew are unable to Captain."

"Unable to? Why?" Kirk looked at Martinez who was completely oblivious to what was going on.

"I do not know Captain." Spock repeated.

"We need to get back now." Kirk opened his communicator but Spock stopped him.

"Captain, we cannot, somebody on board will have to pick up our communication and beam us on board. We must wait."

"Wait! Spock we don't know what's going on up there, we don't even know if they're there at all!" Kirk's voice was alarmed and his volume had increased. He had never felt more useless, he was away from his ship and there was seemingly nothing he could do to help. He looked around at the sea, palm trees and sandy beach, it no longer felt like paradise to him.

* * *

 ** _Thank you for the follows, favourites and reviews; all appreciated! I'm glad you're enjoying it, I know I am writing it! Lots of action and adventure in this one I can assure you! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	9. Chapter 9

"GET DOWN AND STAY DOWN!" Devon knelt behind the Captain's chair, keeping her head low as shots flew over her head. Udy had taken a hit to the shoulder and was lyingbehind his station, Devon could see from her vantage point it wasn't fatal but he was losing a lot of blood and needed medical attention quickly. "Keep pressure on that wound Udy!" She shouted, still ducking her head. Onibala and Uhura were behind her managing to fire off a few shots but not quite getting them on target, coming under too much fire themselves. Sulu and Chekov were to her left aiming their phasers at the assailants. The bodies of seven of them lay motionless on the floor, Kitto had been impressed by their initial covert boarding of the Enterprise but their fighting skills and aim were less than remarkable.

"Chief, what are we going to do?" Sulu shouted over the sound of the shots being fired in their direction.

"We need to secure the bridge and I need to get off it! When I say I want you to give me some cover!" Sulu nodded and took aim at the remaining enemies who were huddled by the door. "NOW!" Kitto shouted, rising to her feet and aiming her rifle at the men. One fell to the floor immediately from her expert marksmanship, swiftly making her way towards them she swung her rifle like an axe at the next closest aggressor, the rifle crashing into the side of him and dropping him to the floor. As she pulled the weapon back the third swung at her with his fist, she missed the first but the second caught her jaw. She fell back, her head ringing but instantly swung for him again. This time he brought his leg up and kicked her in the stomach, sending her reeling back. "Now you're really starting to piss me off!" Kitto pulled herself up and ran full tilt at the man, jumping and kicking him high up on his chest. Both of them landing on the ground, she punched the man's jaw numerous times.

"Don't move!" Looking up she saw Sulu had a phaser pointed at the man's head. He stopped fighting back and reluctantly raised his hands above his head. He was staring at Kitto with loathing in his eyes, to which she blew him a kiss.

"Thanks Sulu." Kitto gave him a wink, a gesture she'd given him many times before when he had come to her rescue.

"Don't mention it." Sulu didn't look away from the man on the floor. Devon clumsily stepped off him and stoodstretching, feeling the blood dripping from her cheek and lip she wiped at it with the back of her hand around she saw that Uhura was tending to Udy and Onibala and Chekov were securing the two other assailants.

"Keep the Bridge secure, get medical up here and keep everybody else on lockdown. I'm going to go to deck eight, we can't lose life support." Sulu nodded and watched Kitto race from the bridge.

* * *

The moment Devon had initiated level ten security and made the ship wide communication the Med Bay had been fortified. Leonard McCoy immediately began prepping for multiple injuries, not having any information as to what the hell was going on he could only follow protocol. What he did know though was a level ten meant all non-essential personnel were confined to quarters and the posting of security teams on every deck. Moreover, he knew that it meant all on-duty personnel would be armed with a hand phaser, this was no drill. Surveying the organised chaos that was his medical bay he tapped his communicator.

"McCoy to Kitto."

"Yeah Doc!" McCoy could hear in her voice that she was currently running full pelt.

"Are you running?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah Doc!" Kitto rasped out.

"What the hell is going on Devon?" He watched as the doors to the bay opened and Uhura walked in holding up Damion Udy, followed by Dawn Onibala and Chekov. "Devon! What the hell happened on the Bridge!?" He asked, his concern growing with each passing moment.

"Doc! I'm a bit busy right now!" McCoy's eyes widened when he heard shouting and phaser fire, his communication with Kitto cut off.

"Uhura!" He shouted across the room, gaining the woman's attention. Quickly making her way over to McCoy Uhura quickly explained the situation they had all found themselves in.

"Jim and Spock are still down on that planet!" McCoy realised all of a sudden.

"They would have tried to check in with us over an hour ago! They won't know what's happened and why we didn't pick up their communication." Uhura anxiously replied, thinking of the Captain and Spock effectively marooned on a planet.

"Uhura, can you get a message to them?" McCoy asked, already formulating a plan.

"Yes." She answered quickly. "Oh, the Chief ordered two Engineers to the transporter room, in case we needed to get them back but she never had a chance to give the order." She added hastily.

"Right, I'm going to make my way to the transporter room." He nodded at her and set off out the medical bay, he knew they needed all the help they could get and he also knew Kirk would be pissed at him if they were to just leave him and Spock on a planet when everybody else was having so much fun.

Carefully making his way down one of the many passageways McCoy took it slowly, not knowing if or how many of the unwelcome visitors were lurking around the corner. As he stepped into another corridor a phaser shot whizzed past his head, missing him by an inch.

"Damn it!" He nervously muttered, his heart racing. Taking another quick look from where he was plastered against the wall he could see that it was one of them on their own. Stealing himself he quickly turned and fired at the man, dropping him instantaneously. He continued on down the corridor quickly, his phaser ready and aimed high all the while. Turning right again the breath in his throat caught when his vision was flooded with the sight of a weapon aimed directly at his head. His weapon too was raised and pointed at whoever was stood in front of him.

"Christ Leonard! I nearly killed you!" Kitto lowered her phaser.

"You kill me!? I nearly killed you!" McCoy responded.

"The majority of them have been captured, I need to get to life support, they're trying to take our legs out from under us." Devon checked her weapon as she spoke, all the while checking around them to make sure nobody was sneaking up. McCoy nodded.

"You need medical attention Kitto." He reached up to touch her split lip and bruised jawline, Devon pulled away.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that Doc!" She gave him a wonky smile. "LOOK OUT!" She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to the wall, both of them just getting out the way of the oncoming firefight. Kneeling down she peered round the corner, there was four of them. "These guys just don't quit do they?" Firing off a couple of shots she turned back to McCoy. "What are you doing out here anyway? Haven't you got patients to be treating?" McCoy aimed and fired his phaser as she questioned him.

"I was on my way to the transporter room!" He answered, firing off a few more shots. Devon knew instantly why, and it made sense.

"On my count, you head for the transporter room, I'll cover you!" They were still coming under fire, Kitto fired a few back. "One, two, three!" McCoy dashed across the corridor, shooting at the enemy as he slid on the floor to the other side, they both made eye contact, neither one of them quite believing that he had made it. Quickly standing and aiming his phaser at the four remaining men McCoy finished them off, leaving them in a stunned pile on the floor. Kitto looked at them and then to McCoy.

"Thanks." She stated simply, impressed by the Doctor's skills. McCoy stood proudly and gave her a wink.

"Anytime Darlin'." He answered smoothly. "Now, get to life support!" She nodded and headed off down the corridor. "And don't get yourself killed!" She heard him shout from in the distance.

* * *

Uhura had managed to get a communication to Kirk and Spock who were currently stood with the rest of the away team waiting to be beamed up.

"Come on Bones!" Kirk muttered anxiously.

"McCoy to Captain Kirk, come in." Kirk gave a sigh of relief.

"Yeah Bones we're here! Get us off this planet!" Kirk almost shouted back. The tell-tale whirling of lights around him told Kirk he was going to be back on his ship in the next few seconds. His hands were clenched into fists, Uhura had given him minimal information about what had occurred while they'd been planet side, and he was ready for the fight. The white light dissipated to reveal McCoy stood, arms crossed, in front of the transporter pad.

"Nice day at the beach Jim?" He asked sarcastically.

"What's going on Bones?" Kirk was in no mood for a joke.

"Ship full of bad guys beamed on board and are trying to disable the ship, you know, the usual." McCoy went to a console to check on the status of the life support, reading the data he looked back up at Kirk. "They're trying to disable life support, Kitto is on her way there now."

"The Bridge?" Kirk asked.

"Secure." Kirk nodded and turned to Spock.

"Mister Spock, go to the Bridge, I'm going to deck eight." Spock inclined his head.

"Aye Captain, Lieutenant Martinez, you will accompany me to the Bridge." Spock spoke to the anxiety wrecked young man, McCoy took a step forward so he was beside Kirk.

"I'm coming with you." He stated tersely, Kirk and McCoy watched Spock and his small team of security leave the transporter room. Tossing a phaser at Kirk McCoy tried to fill him in with as much pertinent information as possible. They made their way to deck eight, luckily not encountering any assailants. The majority of them had been captured or were trapped in locked down areas of the ship with security teams on their way to detain them. The rest, it seemed were held up on deck eight. As the turbolift door opened on deck eight the pair immediately dived to the ground, phaser shots whizzing above their head.

"I guess Kitto made it here then!?" Kirk scrambled to the door and crawled out closely followed by McCoy. On the other end of the corridor two adversaries were standing off against a security team.

"We need to get past them!" shouted McCoy.

"How?" Kirk replied, firing off his phaser intermittently. Just as McCoy was about to answer the firing stopped from the two men, they watched as the pair quickly dropped their weapons and raised their hands above their heads.

"Speak of the Devil." McCoy murmured upon seeing Devon come out from behind the pair with her phaser trained on both of them.

"Schiemann!" Kitto shouted for the security team lead.

"Aye Chief?"

"Take our two guests here to the brig." She didn't take her eyes off them as she spoke.

"Aye Chief." Devon approached one of the men.

"Why did you board our ship?" She asked, he didn't reply. "Why are you trying to disable our life support?" She persevered, still, the man didn't answer. In her peripheral vision she saw McCoy and Kirk. "Alright, you'll have plenty of time to come up with an answer while you're sat in the brig." The security team took over and Kitto made her way to Kirk and McCoy. Kirk was shocked, Kitto looked like she'd been through a one woman war. Her uniform was ripped and covered in blood, her face was bruised black and blue and there was a large singe mark on her left shoulder, clearly a direct phaser shot. Before he could speak Kitto opened her mouth.

"Good to see you Captain, I take it you've been briefed on our current situation?" She asked, all business and professionalism.

"Yeah, I have, but Chief…?" Kirk began but she cut him offagain.

"Right, we need to get into life support, Doc, can you cover my six?" She asked McCoy.

"Yeah Darlin'." McCoy replied, knowing full well that if he tried to tell her she needed medical attention it would fall on death ears.

"Captain, there's six of them in there. Tactical didn't manage to get in, Doc's going to cover me while I get to the main chamber, I need you to take care of the rest of them." She looked at him intently, waiting for a response.

"Are you crazy!? You'll never make it! I'll go to the chamber, you take care of them." Kirk countered.

"Sir, please, trust me. I know what I'm doing." Kitto replied, Kirk stared back, she could see the internal battle he was fighting in his eyes.

"Alright Chief." He grabbed her right arm and squeezed it, pulling her in so she was just an inch away from him. "But at the first sign of trouble you shout for me alright!?" She could tell he was serious, in that moment realisation dawned on her. He cared about her. He cared what happened to her. It all made sense now, what Betty had told her about him sticking around the Med Bay when she was injured, not letting her go on the away mission. He didn't want to see her get hurt again. The way he was holding on to her and looking at her, it all made sense now.

"I will." She answered honestly, he seemed to believe her because he relaxed his grip and nodded his head ever so slightly. Turning she had no time to think about her Captain and the feelings he had for her, she had to stop them from disabling the life support.

"You ready?" She asked McCoy.

"As I'll ever be."

* * *

 ** _Hope you're enjoying this story so far, I'm really enjoying writing it! LLAP ;) XOXO_**


	10. Chapter 10

Standing in front of Devon McCoy began shooting, aiming his fire so that the group of combatants had to take cover before they could fire back. This gave Kitto the time to close the gap between them, running at full speed she let out a primal growl as she bore down on the closest one. Dropping him to the floor she managed to drop the next with a series of expertly placed punches, glancing to her side she saw that McCoy was still covering her and Kirk had made his way down the corridor and was currently trying to open the bay door, not what they had initially agreed on but more effective nonetheless. Her momentary distraction cost her, a blow to her injured shoulder, she uncontrollably screamed out in pain.

"You Son of a Bitch!" Holding her shoulder she watched the man smile at her, seemingly pleased with himself. "You happy!?" He had the audacity to nod at her, before she could throw herself at him he was struck by a phaser shot. Turning she saw McCoy stood watching. "I had him!" She exclaimed, sounding disappointed.

"I did him a favour." McCoy answered back.

"Whose side are you on?" She gave him a quick smile and then refocused on the task, running up to stand beside Kirk she could see that the bay door was about to open.

"McCoy! Go to the Bridge, if we're not successful you need to start a ship wide evacuation!" Kitto shouted at him, she could see he was about to argue back. "Leonard." She knew she needed only to say his name for him to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Alright." He answered, checking around him before darting off.

"Looks like it's you and me Kitto." Kirk gave her one of his million watt smiles, despite herself she couldn't help but smile back.

"Looks like Captain."

"Okay, let's go get our ship back." He pressed one last button and then the bay door began to open. Standing only an inch apart both of them readied their phasers and focussed in on the door's movement. Devon could hear Kirk's breath beside her ear, it was strangely comforting.

The next moment felt like a dream to Devon, her vision blurred as if she was seeing everything through sleep heavy eyes. Her movements felt slow and her surroundings distorted into one another. She could hear shouting, from the enemy, from Kirk and then she realised also from herself. She saw bodies fall, she felt knocks to her face and body. She saw Kirk next to the chamber, she saw someone lift their weapon and point it at him. She felt her own arm lift and her finger pull the trigger. The man fell but not before he fired, she watched as her Captain fell to the ground.

"CAPTAIN!" Her voice didn't sound like her own, she ran and fell to her knees beside him.

"The life support Kitto." He ground out through pained clenched teeth. She stood and keyed in the necessary data, bringing the system back on line. Watching the small light flicker in confirmation on the display in front of her she smiled.

"I need to get you to the med bay Capt…" A hot searing pain slammed into her back pushing her forwards, slowly turning back around she watched wide-eyed as Kirk shot his phaser and stunned the last remaining assailant, his own weapon falling out of his hands, the barrel still smoking.

"Chief!" Kirk's voice was full of pain and dread. Sliding down the work station she found herself slumped next to him, agony still radiating from her back. It was only then that she realised she'd been shot as well.

"He was the last one." Kirk coughed out, holding his shoulder and trying to stem the blood loss.

"Yeah." Devon whispered back to him, tears streaming from her eyes.

"The life supports back on." She didn't know whether it was a question or a statement.

"Yeah." Her eyelids kept closing and opening lazily, each time she found it harder to open them up again.

"Kitto?" She felt a hand on her cheek and her body being carefully laid out on the floor, turning her head she saw that Kirk was lying down next to her, a pool of blood surrounding him and seeping into her uniform.

"Captain?"

"Don't die." He watched as her eyes closed and didn't open, he reached for her face and stroked her cheek, leaving blood stained streaks on her porcelain skin.

* * *

The warm breeze swept over her skin like a ribbon of silk, her nose prickled where the rays of the sun were beginning to burn it and bring out her freckles. Moving her fingers, she slipped them under the towel she was lying on. Moving her digits as if she was playing classical music on a piano she felt the cold damp sand slide under her fingernails. The tangerine hue of the sun bled through her closed eyelids, she hadn't opened them since she'd got there. She had listened to the ocean wash up onto the shore, the sound of the exotic birds in the trees. Occasionally she heard the conversations of passing crew, a scream or shout in the distance when someone was seemingly thrown into the water against their will. None of it tempted her out of her catnap state.

She contemplated turning over to lie on her front but decided against it, too much effort was required. The breeze picked up a bit and a few strands of her hair fell across her face and chest. She haphazardly brushed them away, letting her hand fall on her bare stomach. Her skin was hot and she suddenly felt the urge to cool down and have a swim, she covered her eyes with her hand and slowly opened them, the light flooded in and made everything white. Letting her eyes adjust for a moment her vision slowly cleared and she could make out the horizon, next she slowly sat up, her hair falling from the loose twist on the top of her head down her back. Standing, Devon stretched her arms above her head, her hands together as if in prayer. Adjusting her black bikini top, she smiled when she saw the whiter skin under her strap. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had tan lines, walking towards the shore she noticed somebody walking towards her. Stopping she squinted her eyes, the person was too far away. Shielding her eyes with her hands the person suddenly appeared right in front of her.

"Captain Kirk?" Devon looked at him confused, he was in his uniform but covered in blood and grime.

"Hello Devon." He answered back, she looked around them, there was nobody else on the beach besides them.

"Captain, what happened?" She watched as the blood oozed from his shoulder.

"I was shot Devon, you were too remember." Kirk gave her a pleasant smile and took a sip of the cocktail he was holding in his hand.

"Captain, we need to get you to the med bay now." She replied back, panic building in her gut.

"Oh don't worry about me, you look beautiful by the way. I always did think that, but seeing you here on this beach, the way your hair is blowing in the breeze…" Devon looked around again, still nobody.

"Captain! You're not okay!" She interrupted him, looking at him incredulously as he took another leisurely sip of his cocktail.

"Devon, don't you realise? I'm already dead." Kirk stated simply.

"What?" Her brow creased together in confusion.

"I'm dead Devon, I died right next to you, on deck eight." Devon placed her fingers to his neck, he had no pulse. She put the back of her hand on his cheek.

"You're cold Captain." She whispered, tears springing from her eyes.

"You do know you're not here either Devon, right?" Kirk placed his own hands on her cheeks, cupping her face, his thumb slowly stroking her jawline.

"We're not on the planet? We're not on shore leave?" He shook his head.

"No Devon, we're not."

"What? I don't understand?" Her tears seeped between his fingers, he wiped them away gently.

"You're not here Devon, you're still on the Enterprise. You need to start fighting."

"Fighting? Fight what?"

"For your life Devon." He gave her another sweet smile.

"But you didn't fight, you're dead!" She shouted back at him, her legs feeling like they were going to give way at any moment.

"I tried, there was nothing I could do Devon."

"Why do you keep calling me Devon? You've never called me by my first name!" She pulled his hands from her face.

"Don't ask me Devon, this isn't my hallucination." He laughed and ran his hands through his hair.

"So this is a hallucination, and you're not dead." Devon looked around again, it all looked so real, felt so real.

"Don't change the subject Chief, you need to start fighting." He took her hand and squeezed tightly.

"What if I don't want to fight?" Even as she said the words she knew she didn't mean them, or Kirk believe them. She wiped the tears from her face and looked at him, his eyes were full of kindness.

"I'm sorry you're dead." She finally whispered.

"Yeah me too." He shrugged his shoulders. "Devon, wake up."

"I don't know how?"

"Of course you know how, open your eyes. Wake up Devon." She looked down at her feet, the tide had come in and her feet were covered by a low calm wave. Looking back up Kirk was now miles down the beach, a spot on the horizon.

"Captain!" She shouted at the top of her voice, he was still walking away from her. "Captain!" She shouted again.

"Wake up Devon."

* * *

It was the incessant beeping that finally made Devon open her eyes, that and the cold draft. When she first opened her eyes she was hesitate to look around, not knowing what to expect and not knowing whether or not it was real. But when she heard McCoy in the background shouting at one of the Nurses she knew she was alive and on the Enterprise. The dermal regenerator frame stopped her from sitting up, turning and craning her neck she still couldn't catch the eye of anybody around, not that there was anybody around. Her dream came back to her, at least that's what she supposed it to be. She couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes, Kirk was dead. Her Captain was dead and it was her fault. She brushed the side of her head against the pillow, wiping away the tear that had slipped down her cheek. She didn't know why she was crying, they hadn't been friends, they hadn't even been acquaintances.

"Devon, you're a damned fool you know that!" She sniffled and quickly tried to compose herself at the sound of McCoy's voice. She didn't trust herself to speak without her voice breaking, she closed her eyes and tried to compose herself. "Hey?" McCoy placed his hand on her bare shoulder, she opened her eyes and looked at him, he was staring at her concerned. "Devon, you're alright." He thought she was upset because of her own state, not the fact that Kirk was gone. She nodded meekly and gave him a tight smile. Tapping away at the screen on the frame Devon watched as it split and slid away leaving her exposed to the cold air, just a thin sheet covering her. She shivered uncontrollably. "I'll get you a blanket." McCoy strode off, returning a moment later with a heavy warm blanket that he draped over her, tucking it up and under her chin. "Better?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you." Her voice was raspy.

"Anytime, you and Jim saved the ship, and all of us along with it." At the mention of Kirk Kitto couldn't help but become upset again.

"I'm sorry Doc." She croaked out.

"Sorry? For what?" McCoy raised an eyebrow at her.

"The Captain." McCoy's eyebrow arched even further.

"Jim?" He saw the upset on Kitto's face and put two and two together. "Devon, he's okay you know, he's alive. It'd take more than a shot to the shoulder to down him!" His words didn't register at first, she shook her head. He tapped his communicator. "McCoy to Captain Kirk."

"Kirk here." His voice resonated around the room, Kitto couldn't help the sob escape her lips.

"Jim, do you mind coming down to the med bay?"

"I'll be right there." The communication ended and McCoy went back to stand next to Kitto.

"Devon, why did you think he was dead?" He asked her.

"He told me." She responded, too quickly because as soon as she muttered the words she could tell that McCoy thought she was nuts. Picking up a scanner he waved it over her head. "On the beach." She continued, earning her an even more puzzled look from the Doctor.

"What beach?" He was about to ask her another question when the med bay door opened and Kirk strode in, making his way over he gave Kitto a big smile.

"Look who's awake!" He exclaimed, coming to stand by her bed. Kitto was overwhelmed with relief, seeing him stood in front of her, alive, she realised in that moment that she cared for him too. She sat up and flung her arms around his neck, clutching at him tightly. Kirk was frozen, in a million years he would never have guessed that that would have been her reaction upon seeing him. When he realised that she wasn't letting go he hugged her back, his hands resting on her bare back, the blanket the only thing between them. "You okay Chief?" He asked, slightly amused.

"You said you were dead, on the beach you told me you were dead." She whispered into his neck.

"What beach?" Kirk asked, looking at McCoy who just shrugged his shoulders and folding his arms in front of him. He'd given up trying to work out Devon Kitto.

"That's what I said." McCoy responded to Kirk's quizzical look.

"You were on the beach with me, you told me you were dead and I had to fight and I had to wake up, you kept saying wake up Devon. You called me by my first name, you never do that." She'd pulled back slightly and was clutching at the blanket lest she lose anymore of her modesty.

"Chief, you were shot remember? So was I, not as bad though, just a scratch." He gave her a wink. "You've been here since, I came and visited you, I told you to wake up Chief but we weren't on a beach at the time. Although that sounds like a great plan now that you mention it. I did call you by your first name though, you must have heard me." She was still staring at him, all sense of decorum and professionalism out the window.

"I'm sorry I didn't protect you."

"Chief, you saved the ship. You've got nothing to be sorry for. I should be thanking you." He was being honest she could tell. Sitting back she looked at McCoy, he was still stood with his arms crossed, smirking at the two of them.

* * *

 ** _I don't know? What do you think? ;-) LLAP XOXO_**


	11. Chapter 11

"Enjoying the view Jim?" Bones elbowed his friend as they both watched a group of female Officers walk past.

"Now now Bones." Kirk reprimanded him, which only resulted in McCoy huffing and telling him he wasn't fooling anybody. Kirk passed the bottle of water back to McCoy and started walking down the beach.

"Jim? Where are you going?"

"Just for a walk Bones, I need to clear my head. I'll be back in a while." Kirk answered, waving his hand above his head as he walked away from McCoy and the rest of the group. McCoy stood and watched him for a while.

"Where is the Captain going?" Uhura asked him, coming to stand by his side.

"Going to do something he should have done a long long time ago." His answer was cryptic but Uhura knew not to probe any further.

The warm breeze swept over her skin like a ribbon of silk, her nose prickled where the rays of the sun were beginning to burn it and bring out her freckles. Moving her fingers, she slipped them under the towel she was lying on. Moving her digits as if she was playing classical music on a piano she felt the cold damp sand slide under her fingernails. The tangerine hue of the sun bled through her closed eyelids, she hadn't opened them since she'd got there. She had listened to the ocean wash up onto the shore, the sound of the exotic birds in the trees. Occasionally she heard the conversations of passing crew, a scream or shout in the distance when someone was seemingly thrown into the water against their will. None of it tempted her out of her catnap state.

She contemplated turning over to lie on her front but decided against it, too much effort was required. The breeze picked up a bit and a few strands of her hair fell across her face and chest. She haphazardly brushed them away, letting her hand fall on her bare stomach. Her skin was hot and she suddenly felt the urge to cool down and have a swim, she covered her eyes with her hand and slowly opened them, the light flooded in and made everything white. Letting her eyes adjust for a moment her vision slowly cleared and she could make out the horizon, next she slowly sat up, her hair falling from the loose twist on the top of her head down her back. Standing, Devon stretched her arms above her head, her hands together as if in prayer. Adjusting her black bikini top, she smiled when she saw the whiter skin under her strap. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had tan lines, walking towards the shore she noticed somebody walking towards her.

"Captain Kirk?" She watched him walk towards her casually, his shirt was unbuttoned and blowing behind him in the breeze.

"Found yourself your own private beach have you Kitto?" Kirk's relaxed smile and demeanour instantly had the same effect on Devon, she smiled back and looked around.

"Until now." She teased.

"I'll leave you in peace then…" Kirk started to turn.

"I was only joking Captain, I think there's enough room for the two of us." He turned back round to face her.

"Why aren't you with everybody else?" He asked concern in his voice. "I saw you arrive with everybody but you didn't stick around. Is everything okay?" She appreciated his concern.

"Yes everything is fine, I just needed some time to myself, clear my head you know?" She answered honestly.

"I know what you mean, it kind of takes it out of you doesn't it?" Kirk kicked at the sand as he spoke.

"What does?" Devon kicked at the sand herself, accidently flinging some onto Kirk's leg. He gave her a mock shocked look and then kicked some on her, she couldn't help but laugh at the childish nature of their behaviour.

"Nearly dying." He answered.

"Oh yeah, I suppose you're right. No, I don't know Sir? I just wanted some time with my thoughts, revaluate a few things you know?"

"Like what?" He asked, she shoved his shoulder playfully with her hand.

"You're very nosey aren't you?"

"I'm the Captain, it's my business to know your business." He answered, shoving her shoulder back in return.

"I'm not sure that's quite right Sir…" He held a hand up, interrupting her.

"Are you arguing with me Kitto?" She could tell he was joking.

"Me? Argue with you? Never." She replied.

"I thought so." Without discussing it they both began to walk down the shoreline, their feet being covered by the gentle tide from time to time. They chatted easily, about nothing important, small talk really. Kirk was taken aback at how relaxed he felt around her, as if they'd been friends all their lives. When the truth was quite the opposite, they weren't friends and had really only ever had one polite conversation over lunch. He regretted that his pride had stopped him from going and talking to her all those years ago.

Devon kept stealing glances at him as they walked and talked, his features were gentle and relaxed. He laughed easily when she said something funny, he listened intently and asked pertinent questions. When she stood on a sharp shell he held her hand and elbow to help her keep her balance as she checked the bottom of her foot.

"Have you cut it?" He asked, concerned.

"I don't think so." She put her foot back down but he kept hold of her hand.

"You know for a Chief Tactical Officer you're quite accident prone." Kirk jested.

"Only when you're around! You're bad luck Sir!" She reluctantly pulled her hand from his but instantly felt the loss of it.

"Me! Am not! What about that time on the mining planet? Before you turned up everything was going fine! As soon as you beamed down I broke my foot!" Kirk exclaimed passionately, Kitto tutted and shook her head.

"That was because of me!? You weren't looking where you were going!" Kirk accepted defeat and suggested they turn back on their selves. The rest of their walk was in silence, the pair of them watched the waves and the occasional bird that flew over. They stopped when they got back to her things.

"I have a spare towel if you want?" She offered, he seemed taken aback by the proposal but then nodded and accepted. Pulling the towel out of her bag she unrolled it and placed it neatly down next to hers. "Voila." She gestured for him to take a seat.

"Thank you." He answered back, Devon sat back down and lay back, she watched as Kirk took his shirt off and she was immediately thankful that her face was probably already red from the sun, it meant that Kirk wouldn't notice she was blushing. He lay on his front and propped himself up with his arms next to her.

"Where's Doctor McCoy?" She asked, trying to distract herself.

"Playing lifeguard up the beach." Kirk laughed.

"He never stops does he?"

"No, he doesn't. Saved my ass on more than one occasion."

"And mine, he's a good friend of yours isn't he?"

"He's my best friend, You and he were friends at the Academy too weren't you?" She nodded. "The only thing we've ever fallen out about is you." Devon creased her brow in confusion.

"Me?"

"Yeah you, when we were at the Academy and I blew up at you over the Maru test." It was Kirk's turn to blush.

"Really?" Devon couldn't help but laugh.

"Really! He ripped me a new one, told me I was being juvenile and that you did me a favour and that if I just pulled my head out of my own ass we would be friends." Kirk rattled off, grimacing slightly. "He wasn't the only one come to think of it."

"Well, they were right." Kirk just nodded.

"Feels good doesn't it?" He commented, Kitto only hummed in response.

"I'm glad you decided on allowing the shore leave Sir, I know I was ready for it! Everybody is very grateful I can assure you."

"That's good to hear, I don't think I've ever seen you so relaxed before." She shielded her eyes from the sun and peeked up at him, he was still just lying next to her, watching her.

"You haven't seen me on a beach before now Captain, in a swimsuit, sunbathing." Even her tone of voice was relaxed.

"You're right, it suits you by the way."

"What does? The swimsuit or the sunbathing?" She was flirting there was no denying it, she knew and he knew. He laughed and allowed himself to leisurely look up and down the length of her body.

"I meant being relaxed." He clarified.

"Oh, is that what you meant? You too Captain, by the way." She shifted slightly, moulding the sand beneath her into a comfortable contour.

"No more Captain, we're on a beach for crying out loud! Call me Jim." He was still looking at her but she had closed her eyes and put her hand back down by her side.

"Alright Jim, as long as you call me Devon." She talked as she sunbathed.

"It's a pretty name Devon. You said your adoptive parents named you Devon Khurana? Did you ever know your biological parents?" If she was uncomfortable with the very personal question she didn't show it. Kirk was feeling confident, she'd invited him to spend time with her and she had flirted with him. He had the same feeling he had got when they had eaten lunch together, excited about spending time with her and wanting to get to know her more.

"No I never met them." She answered calmly.

"Did you ever try to find them, or did they ever try to find you?"

"No, they died when I was a baby, an accident I think." She turned onto her front and mirrored his position. She watched his hands make small mounds with the sand in front of him.

"I'm sorry." Kirk responded. "I never knew my Father, but I can't imagine never knowing either of my parents." Devon looked at his face, she could see sadness and regret but he smiled at her nevertheless.

"It wasn't too bad, I figured I couldn't miss something I never had, plus my adoptive parents were loving and kind and have always been there for me. They're my family." They settled into a comfortable silence.

"Devon?" Kirk spoke after a while.

"Yes Jim." She replied back playfully.

"I know we've not always seen eye to eye and I'm sorry I missed the opportunity to be your friend at the Academy…" Kirk looked away, slightly embarrassed at how honest he was being.

"My word Jim, you're full of surprises today aren't you." He nudged her shoulder with his own but let it settle back so that his was resting against hers.

"Will you let me finish?" He chastised.

"Sorry." She let her head drop down in pretend embarrassment, Kirk pulled her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"As I was saying, or what I was trying to say was, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you and I wanted to say thank you." She stopped playing with the sand in front of her and turned to look at him, he suddenly felt very close.

"Your welcome Jim, I feel the same way about you actually."

"You do?"

"Well yeah, for one thing I would probably be dead!" She laughed and Kirk couldn't help but laugh with her.

"Funny how things change."

"You're right." She wasn't looking at him when she spoke, already feeling too nervous with the man lying next to her.

"You look beautiful Devon." Kirk commented earnestly, Kitto laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Wow! That was smooth, real smooth Jim." She turned back over to lie on her back, she was still smiling and laughing.

"Are you laughing at me Kitto?" Kirk pulled himself up so he was kneeling next to her, he suddenly lent over her and placed his hands on either side of her shoulders. Devon abruptly stopped laughing, Kirk's close proximity made her heart start pounding.

"Me? Laugh at you? Never." She whispered.

"Good." He said, closing the gap between them.

"Are you really going to kiss me?" She couldn't help but ask.

"I was thinking about it, yeah." He answered, bemused at her reaction. A woman who he had never seen nervous or flummoxed in her life was nervously biting her bottom lip.

"Okay."

"Okay? That's all? Okay?" He couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you think this is a good idea? I mean what if we…" She knew she was rambling.

"I haven't thought that far ahead if I'm being honest Devon, I've only thought about what it would be like to kiss you."

"Okay."

"There you go with the okay again!"

"Jim."

"Yes Devon." His face turned serious.

"Just shut up and kiss me." She answered. Kirk exhaled loudly and rolled his eyes in frustration.

"You're unbelievable!" Devon knew she would remember that moment for the rest of her life, the taste of his lips, mixed with the salt in the air. Her hands on his warm shoulders, his smile against hers and the pounding of her heart in her chest.

* * *

 ** _Thank you for the reviews, they really are appreciated and have helped me to continue with this. Now I'm really not sure about this one, I like it but...? Any ways, it's fun to write! Hope you're enjoying it! :-) LLAP XOXO_**


	12. Chapter 12

**The Academy – New Year's Eve**

Devon sat at the large round banqueting table looking around the grand hall they were sat in. The enormous chandeliers above her were lit low, candles were grouped together like fireflies in the middle of each table, reflecting warm light off the cutlery and crystal glass. The exotic blossoms embellishing the candleholders gave off a rich spicy scent. Heavy cream draped linen gathered around the foot of each table and was matched by the drapery adorning the floor to ceiling windows.

"It's beautiful." Devon gasped.

"I told you!" Betty clutched her arm in excitement.

"I feel and look ridiculous!"

"You do not!" Betty exclaimed from her left.

"I can't believe you talked me into this!"

"I can't believe you said yes!"

"Betty!"

"Devon!" They both started laughing. "Come on, it's an Academy tradition, we're upperclass cadets now." Devon smiled and nodded her head. Beneath the table, her damp fists crushed the delicate cobalt silk of her evening gown while her heels tapped on the hard wood floor. Fellow cadets started flooding into the room, taking their seats for the meal. Looking at the place setting next to her she sighed in relief, the name expertly written in calligraphy on the small folded card was that of Leonard H. McCoy. They had shared a few classes together and they had become friends after he had patched her up on more than one occasion after her tactical sessions.

"Well, thank god for that, I'd thought I was going to have to sit next to somebody I didn't like for the next three hours and make small talk." Devon turned to see McCoy standing behind her, drink in hand.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me Leonard." She returned his smile. He leant over and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"You look beautiful Ms Kitto." He whispered in her ear.

"Thank you, charmer. You scrub up quite well yourself Doctor."

"I look like a damned waiter, but thank you." Taking his seat next to her he said hello to Betty who he knew from their shared medical classes.

"I'm surprised to see you here." Devon spoke to McCoy as she took a sip of wine.

"Not as surprised as me! I got dragged here." He replied, taking a gulp of his own drink.

"By who?" Devon creased her brow in confusion. "Leonard, you're not here on a date are you? Who's the lucky lady?" She teased.

"I wish that were the case Devon, no, I got dragged here by…"

"Bones!" Devon's spine stiffened at the sound of his voice. McCoy watched her face turn from serene to a deer in headlights.

"Sorry Darlin', I didn't know…" McCoy took her hand under the table and squeezed. She plastered on a smile and turned back to look at McCoy.

"Don't apologise, I'm fine, really. I'm not the one who won't talk." The two of them watched as Kirk made his way through the sea of chairs and people.

"Bones!" He shouted again.

"Over here Jim." McCoy shouted back, finally making it through Kirk looked around the table, smiling when he saw McCoy and Betty.

"Is this our table?" He asked, his eyes finally settled on Devon, his features changed in an instant from joyful to indignation. Even after all this time, it hurt Devon to see someone react the way he did, simply upon seeing her. She could feel her pulse racing and her sense of fight or flight kicked in.

"Good evening." She closed her eyes briefly in relief that her voice didn't betray her and crack with nervousness. She must have caught him off guard because he mumbled the greeting back before sitting down.

"Well, it's progress at least." McCoy whispered to her, she shrugged in response.

* * *

Kirk was drunk, he was drunk before he'd even arrived at the dinner. His date had stood him up and he had had to drag McCoy with him. To top it off Devon K. Kitto was sat at the same table as he was. And he had spoken to her! He had sworn to himself he would never speak to her. He sat watching her talk with Betty and McCoy and whoever else was sat at their table. When another friend of hers had sneaked up behind her she had jumped from her seat and pulled them into a bear hug, the pair laughing at the top of their voices. He'd felt a sense of remorse when he saw what she was like with her peers and friends, easy going, polite, generous.

He had felt the corners of his mouth twitch on a number of occasions when she had said something funny and he wanted to laugh. Watching her standing with McCoy and talking between courses he took in her appearance. Her Amazonian figure sat well on her slim body, her dress highlighted her decanter shaped waist perfectly and her complexion had an impeccable, alabaster hue. He watched her face as she spoke with his friend, a pair of arched eyebrows looked down on sweeping eyelashes. Her delicate ears framed a petite nose. When she broke into a smile, her captivating, pearl-white teeth lit up the room. He watched as she ran her hands through her nougat-brown curly hair, spools of it plunged around her face and down her back. He shook his head vigorously. What had got in to him? He really was drunk.

* * *

"James? Are you alright." Betty had watched Kirk slump lower and lower into his chair since the dinner had been served and the band had begun to play. He was currently watching cadets dance with one another on the large dance floor in the centre of the room.

"Fine, fine Betty. I'm fine…fine." He slurred over his shoulder in her direction. Betty looked at the dance floor and spotted Devon dancing with Armin Endriss. Endriss was a very tall, very handsome and very popular man who had had a crush on Devon for the last two years and from the look on his face, he couldn't believe that he currently had her in his arms.

"She's nice you know." Betty walked round the table and came to sit beside Kirk, he looked at her confused. "Devon. She's a nice person. You and she would get along." He tutted and took a swig of his drink.

"How can you be so sure?" He finally asked, as if she was arguing the earth was flat.

"You have the same set of interests, the same set of friends. You share classes together. She does always try and say hello James, you do know that. Most people would have given up after three years of being ignored." Betty could see the look of guilt on his face.

"I don't know?" Kirk mumbled back, turning his head back to stare at Devon and Armin.

"Don't know what?" Betty asked, he opened his mouth to say something but the words never came. "James, its New Year's Eve. Go and ask her to dance."

"What!? Are you crazy!? No!" Kirk threw his head back and laughed, as if he'd just heard the funniest thing in his entire life.

"It could be your New Year's resolution…'be nice to Devon Kitto'." Betty smirked.

"You're crazy Betts."

"You're stubborn James." He turned back to her and stuck his bottom lip out.

"She made me fail the test Betty." He sulked.

"I know James." She replied, as if talking to a toddler who had just fallen over and cut their knee.

"I don't like losing Betty." He continued.

"I know James." Betty repeated, they both watched Devon and Armin dance.

"Would we get on?" Betty saw a glimmer of hope.

"You would." She answered, not wanting to push her luck. McCoy appeared beside them, took the seat next to Betty and handed her a drink. Seeing the look on Kirk's face McCoy rolled his eyes.

"What's going on?" He asked apprehensively.

"Nothing." Kirk answered.

"Alright, have it your way." McCoy actually wasn't in the mood to persist with his line of questioning, turning to Betty he smiled. "Will you do me the honour of this dance?" Betty grinned back and stood from her chair.

"Of course." She answered breathlessly, taking her hand McCoy escorted her to the dance floor, not before turning and instructing Kirk to pull his head from his arse. Kirk stood abruptly, ignoring the spinning of the room he downed the rest of his drink. He determinedly walked towards the dance floor, only stopping when he was stood next to Devon and Armin. Armin, taken aback, let go of Devon.

"Kirk?" He asked, Kirk just ignored him and continued to look at Devon.

"Will you dance with me?" He asked, Devon had to stop her mouth from gaping open.

"Go away Kirk, you're drunk." Armin put his hand on Devon's shoulder to turn her away.

"Stay out of this Endriss, I asked her a question." Kirk gave him a cursory glance and a glib smile which only resulted in Armin becoming more irritated. Devon could see which way the situation was going, plus she hadn't been best pleased with the way Armin hadn't once looked her in the eye while they had been talking, frankly he gave her the creeps. Anything was better, she took Armin's hand and gently pulled it off her arm.

"Thank you for the dance Armin." He looked at her incredulously and then looked at Kirk who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"See you around Endriss." Before Armin could respond Kirk slipped between the pair and put his hand round Devon's waist, his hand resting on her bare back. She took his hand and they turned away, leaving Armin stood watching and fuming.

"Better luck next time big fella." McCoy said mockingly as he passed by Armin dancing.

Devon's mind was going a millions miles an hour, she looked around the room, at her feet, at other people, anywhere but in the eyes of James T Kirk. Why had he asked her to dance? Why now? What had happened? The feel of his grip on her waist, her hand in his was all so strange. She knew he was drunk, the way he kept tripping on his own feet gave that away, but still, why now? For the life of her she couldn't think of one thing to say to him, her mind had gone blank. She was feeling a bit of a buzz herself, all the wine she had drunk catching up with her.

"Have you had a nice evening?" He asked, she finally looked him in the eyes. He was close, she hadn't realised how close. Their torsos were pressed together, he'd pulled their clasped hands and arms in and her other hand hung over his shoulder. The slow music ensured their movements were very slight, they were little more than rocking to and fro.

"Yes thank you." She answered back, he went silent again so she continued on. "You?" She chastised herself for her pathetic attempt at small talk.

"Yes." His single worded answer disappointed Devon, and made her even more confused than before. Her line of sight was caught by McCoy, who was still dancing with Betty behind them. His arched eyebrow indicated that he too, didn't have a clue what was going on but was enjoying the spectacle nonetheless. Devon shrugged her shoulders and was about to ask Kirk that exact question when there was a clinking of cutlery against crystal and the music stopped.

"Ten." Someone shouted, Devon looked at Kirk who was already watching her.

"Nine." Another voice yelled. He hadn't let go of her, they were still in their embrace, neither one of them being able to move.

"Eight." A woman cheered. She could feel his breath on her cheek, she could smell the whiskey on his breath.

"Seven." She could feel the rise and fall of his chest.

"Six." He could feel her pulse racing, the palm of his hand resting against her wrist.

"Five." He watched as she bit her lip nervously.

"Four." He felt the silk of her dress shift against his shirt and her bosom heave against him.

"Three." He smiled at her, she smiled back.

"Two." She closed her eyes instinctively, and held her breath.

"One." She heard him whisper, his lips a millimetre away from hers.

"Happy New Year."

* * *

 ** _Thank you very much for the follows and favourites, it means a lot that you're enjoying this story. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. XOXO LLAP ;-)_**


	13. Chapter 13

"Captain! We have to leave! NOW!" Kitto stood in the doorframe of the shuttlecraft, shielding her face from the torrential rain.

"I heard you the first time Chief!" Kirk shouted back, making his way through the dense jungle with McCoy over one shoulder.

"I told you I should have carried him!" She looked to Sulu who was laughing at the exchange; he was gearing up the shuttle for a quick exit. He grinned and turned back to her.

"You're going to pay for that one." He commented.

"You think?" She asked, still laughing herself.

"Oh yeah, from the pair of them as well." Sulu turned back to the console in front of him. "We need to go Chief, this storm is coming in fast." Kitto became serious again and jumped from the door into the foliage.

"With all due respect Captain, you need to move!" She was instantly soaked to the bone, the rain becoming harder and harder.

"I'm moving! I'm moving!" She let him past, McCoy was still unconscious over his shoulder as he jumped into the shuttlecraft. A bolt of lightning hit a tree to her right, she instantaneously dove onto the ground, covering her head with her hands. The crack of thunder boomed through the air all around them, the sound muffling Kirk's shout. She took a minute to pad herself down, she was still in one piece. She knew her hearing had come back because all she could hear was Kirk shouting her name over and over.

"I'M OKAY!" She shouted, standing up and giving Kirk a grin who was white as a sheet and holding his breath. He hesitated, his heart still in his throat, Kitto jumped up into the shuttlecraft herself and sauntered casually past him. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's get out of here."

* * *

The hot water from the shower stung Devon's skin but it felt glorious in comparison to the cold sodden uniform she had been stuck in for the last seventy two hours. When they had made it back to the Enterprise Kirk had stayed by McCoy's side, wanting to make sure he was okay. Away team personnel had to go to sick bay per protocol anyway but her and Sulu had been cleared for duty within five minutes of being there. She still hung back a little, watching Kirk speak with the Doctor tending to McCoy. When the Physician had gone off to treat another patient she walked casually across the bay and stood beside Kirk looking at McCoy asleep on the bed in front of them.

"I take it he's dead." She deadpanned.

"That's not funny." Kirk muttered back to her, trying not to laugh.

"You're wrong on that account, it was very funny. I'm very funny, I've been told so on numerous occasions, you know nothing about humour." She continued in a serious tone.

"You're crazy." He couldn't help the smile spread across his face, appreciative of her lightning the mood.

"And very funny, don't forget that." She nudged his arm with hers.

"Wait until he wakes up and we tell him he got knocked out by a falling tree trunk, he'll be mortified." Kirk turned to look at her, her wet hair was plastered to her head and hung limply down the sides of her face, she'd looked better.

"Trunk? More like a branch." She disputed. "Anyway, I'm going to my quarters and getting out of these wet clothes, you should do the same and let sleeping beauty here get his rest." She gave him a wink and started off in the direction of the door. She heard Kirk jog up quickly behind her to catch up and fall in line as they walked down the corridor to the turbolift. Once the door closed he turned to her again. "When you said I should do the same thing? Did you mean me go to your quarters and get out of my wet clothes with you?" There was a twinkle in his eye and he was leaning towards her. She wanted to tease him, make a joke but his earnestness stopped her.

"I didn't mean that." His face fell.

"Oh." He muttered disappointedly.

"But it's not a bad idea." She continued, his face lighting up again at her words.

"Oh." He repeated in a cheerier tone and she couldn't help but laugh. She closed the gap between them, until her face was practically buried into his neck given their height difference.

"Oh so eloquent Captain." She joshed, Kirk lowered his head so that their cheeks rested together.

"What can I say, you take the words right out of my mouth Chief." As soon as she heard him call her by her position her back stiffened and she took a step back. She'd called him Captain but somehow this was different. Kirk noticed immediately the change in her demeanour and creased his brow in confusion. "What? What is it?" He asked concerned.

"I don't know? I mean I do know but I'm not sure?" She wiped away the wet hair from the sides of her face and looked at him confused.

"Not sure about what?" He took a step forward and tried to catch her hand in his but she folded her arms across her chest defensively. "Devon? What are you not sure about?"

"I don't know how to say it without hurting you." She cautioned honestly.

"I'm a big boy Devon, just tell me." He smiled at her sympathetically, trying to quash her concern.

"This" She waved her hands between the two of them, "Us, how is this going to work? Should it work? I mean, this could get very messy very quickly and I don't want that to happen! We both deserve better than that don't you think?" He nodded in response.

"I do think." He answered.

"You don't think I'm overthinking it?" She asked him, slightly embarrassed.

"You're the Chief Tactical Officer, if you didn't overthink every scenario I would be worried." Kirk gave her a grin.

"So? What should we do?" He took her question seriously and thought for a moment.

"I don't want to mess this up Devon, I really like you and I don't want to mess this up." He answered honestly, Devon sighed with relief.

"I feel the same way." She whispered back.

"We work well together."

"We do." So far they were agreeing about everything, a good sign in Kitto's eyes.

"Here's what I think we should do." She bobbed her head encouragingly. "Let's do nothing." It was her turn to crease her brow and look confused.

"Do nothing?" She echoed.

"Yeah, do nothing. We've only just become friends for crying out loud, let's work on that first and, if our mutual…sexual attraction to one another continues, well then, we know that it's not just a fling or something else."

"That strangely makes sense Jim." She looked at him impressed.

"It does doesn't it!?" He gave her a smile, happy with tried to work out the details, how long should they leave it? How would they know when they were ready? What if one or both of them changed their mind? They came up with some ball park figures and then agreed to stick to them. Above all they promised to be honest to one another.

"Alright then, so I guess I'll see you later then." She turned to look at the door, realising they'd come to a stop minutes ago she stepped forward so that the door automatically opened.

"Good work today Chief." Kirk stated loudly, enough to startle Devon slightly until she saw that it was for the benefit of a passing Ensign.

"Thank you Captain." She replied, just as pointedly. She didn't miss the wink he gave her as the door slid closed.

* * *

The next few weeks were bizarre for Devon, both her and Kirk stuck to their plan. They acted like colleagues, fellow Officers working together as per usual. Kirk gave her orders as per usual and Devon followed them as per usual. On one occasion she disagreed with him, which wasn't uncommon but he seemingly backed down far easier than he had ever done before. When no one was looking he gave her a sly wink, the only indication of their lure to on another he had shown all month. She still found him infuriating at times but she couldn't deny she longed to kiss him again. They had had lunch together a handful of times, talking about their backgrounds, likes and dislikes. Kirk had joked that he felt like he was speed dating, trying to make up for the three years at the Academy he had missed being her friend.

That evening they found themselves sat opposite each other at the monthly bridge crew poker game.

"I'll bet two hundred." Kirk threw his chips in confidently.

"See it." McCoy placed his cards down in front of him as he spoke, eyeing up Spock who was sat next to him.

"See it." Spock said, as always devoid of any kind of emotion.

"Well, I'm out." Uhura tossed her cards in front of her, trying not to look disappointed.

"See the two hundred and... Oh, God... ...raise a hundred." Kitto threw her own chips in.

"Too rich for my blood." Sulu placed his cards down on the table, sitting back and folding his arms.

"See your hundred. Raise you... a thousand." Kirk eyed Kitto as he spoke, looking for any kind of tell.

"This is out of control. I'm out." McCoy held his hands up in defeat and picked up his glass, content to sit back, drink and watch the theatrics unfold.

"See the thousand." Kitto spoke confidently when it came round to her turn and everybody else had folded, winking at McCoy he gave her a look no one else could decipher the meaning of.

"We're it, huh?" Kirk said to her.

"Just us." Kitto laughed, slightly threateningly Spock determined.

"Aces over eights." Kirk placed his cards down with a flourish.

"Shit!" Kitto threw hers on top of the pile of chips.

"Excellent! This is terrific!" Kirk couldn't hide his excitement, what Devon wasn't sure of though was whether he was excited about winning the hand or the fact that she had lost? She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"You played that hand like a pro." Kitto congratulated him, no sarcasm evident in her tone.

"Thanks, I guess you've either got it or you haven't." Kirk was still grinning from ear to ear, pulling the chips towards him. His comment aggravated her more, she didn't like this side to him she realised, certainly when it was pointed in her direction. It reminded her of what he was like when he was taking the Kobayashi Maru test and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. Sulu collected the cards and shuffled them before dealing them out to everybody. Again when it came round to Kitto's turn all eyes were on her.

"All right. Oh... I raise... five hundred." Kitto threw in her chips dismissively.

"I fold." Sulu responded immediately, knowing enough of the Chief Tactical Officer to know when he was out of his depth.

"Well, the Doctor must fold." McCoy smirked.

"I'll see the five hundred... ...and I'll raise two thousand." Kirk replied assertively.

"You must have tremendous confidence?" Kitto asked him, raising her eyebrows and looking at everybody else who were just sat there in shock.

"I have tremendous confidence." Kirk answered cockily.

"A little confidence ain't going to get it, Captain. I see the two thousand five hundred and raise you three grand. I think you got nothin'." Kitto called him on it, staring at him as she spoke. The atmosphere had shifted and it was palpable in the room, even Kirk gave her a second look.

"That's your constitutional right." Kirk muttered, slightly taken aback by Kitto's seriousness.

"OK. That's the kind of game we're going to play... That's five to me... ...and... I raise you eight thousand." There was a gasp from Uhura and Spock's eyebrow was arched so high that McCoy thought it was going to reach his bangs.

"Devon, I thought we were playing for fun?" Sulu whispered to her, a concerned hand resting on her forearm.

"This is fun." Kitto was still looking at Kirk, she was smiling but it didn't reach her eyes. Sulu didn't quite believe her.

"I'll see the eight grand. I'll raise you ten. Can I borrow twenty one grand, please? "Kirk asked Sulu, who was manning the bank.

"Twenty one grand? You know you can buy a damned freighter for that?" McCoy exclaimed gruffly.

"I know what I'm doin'." Kirk was staring daggers at Kitto.

"You've got some guts, Captain." Kitto smiled sweetly.

"It's not guts. It's realism." He spat back.

"There's eighty three grand in there Captain, what's the word?" Kitto dismissed his comment and leant forward on the table.

"I'll see it... ...and I'll raise you ten. Twenty five thousand more, please Sulu." Kirk wiped at his brow tensely.

"Our Captain has some set of balls! Am I right? My hat's off to you, Sir. My shirt too, probably, the way you play!" Kitto spoke to the other players, laughing as she lifted her glass in the air. "To you." She toasted and took a large swig of her drink. "Well, might as well go down in flames. What do you got?" Kitto watched him carefully as he placed his cards down on the table.

"Sorry, Chief, straight flush to the jack." Kirk smiled and sat back, clapping his hands together in the air obviously very happy with himself. The others let out the breath they'd been holding and muttered between themselves. Then all eyes fell on Devon, the room fell silent. She sat forward and put her head in her hands and let out a long sigh.

"That's…That's one for the books." She shook her head in defeat, but as Kirk was about to collect all the chips she lifted her cards to place them down on the table. Kirk stopped in his tracks.

"To the queen." She stated simply.

"My god woman!" McCoy couldn't help but exclaim.

"That's a tough break Sir." Kitto watched as Kirk's face fell.

"Remind me never to play with you again Kitto! You rung me dry when we were at the Academy, clearly you haven't lost your touch." McCoy stood from the table and downed his drink. Neither Kirk nor Kitto noticed everybody leave the room, Sulu whispering to Uhura as they left.

"What the hell is going on between the two of them?"

"You have no idea!"

Both of them still sat staring at each other, finally Devon stood and began to walk to the door.

"What the hell was that!?" Kirk asked her, obviously angry.

"That was a lesson Jim, don't get cocky with me, don't call me in Poker and never, ever bluff. Goodnight." He watched her leave not knowing if he had reverted back to disliking her or wanting her more than he ever had before.

* * *

 ** _Thank you so much for the follows and favourites, glad to see you're enjoying it! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think or where you'd like to see the story go. LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	14. Chapter 14

"Move! Move! Move!" Kirk kept running full pelt across the grassland, his lungs were burning and the muscles in his legs were crying out for him to stop. "One kilometre east! Keep going!" Kitto's voice was still to his right, he didn't dare look. "Lieutenant! Where the hell are you going?" He managed to turn his head left to catch Lieutenant Jenkinson heading in the wrong direction. He couldn't help but slow down and watch as Kitto changed her direction ninety degrees, passing him and running towards Jenkinson.

"Chief!" He shouted, not really knowing what was going on. She didn't answer, running to stand beside Jenkinson and grab him by the collar.

"You need to move NOW Jenkinson!" Her face was a millimetre from his.

"I can't Chief!" The man was frozen in fear. "We're not going to make it!"

"You can and you will! Move now or you're a dead man!" She started pulling at him. "Now Jenkinson!" Tugging him along she managed to get him moving again until they were both back in a sprint. "I'm right behind you." She shouted at Kirk, he started running himself, the whole ordeal allowing the native creatures to gain on them. "FASTER Jenkinson!" Kitto shouted at the man again who was a few metres in front of her.

"I can't!" The man had resigned himself to his supposed fate Kitto knew it. She pushed him forward when she had caught up with him and then stopped still. "Chief? What are you doing?" He asked her, his eyes wide with fear upon seeing how close the creatures were to them.

"GO! Go now!" She shouted at him, pulling her phaser from its holster and hunkering down her frame, ready for the fight of her life. Jenkinson looked at her one last time before he set off again, ahead of him the Captain was unaware of what his Chief had resigned herself to.

* * *

"…KITTO!

…We need medical…

…Beam us up! Now...

…Hold on Chief...

…Lieutenant, grab the kit…

…Kitto, don't you dare pass out on me!

…Enterprise…"

A whirling of lights and the away team appeared on the transporter pad.

"It's just a scratch." Kitto held her side with both her hands asshe stumbled off the transporter pad, she was smiling despite the obvious agony she was in. She had no idea how she was still upright and conscious for that matter.

"The hell it is!" McCoy strode forward and pulled her hands away revealing the extent of her injury. "My god woman! How are you still standing?! I can see your spleen!" McCoy pushed her hands back down and pressed a hypospray to her neck.

"You cannot see my spleen, stop being over dramatic Doc!" Kitto's words were slurred and she stumbled again, her legs buckled and she felt lightheaded. A strong pair of arms encircled her shoulders and pulled her up, turning she saw Kirk next to her, his face full of apprehension. "Thanks Captain." She gave him a weak smile but it faded quickly when white spots began to dance in front of her eyes. McCoy was still pressing hyposprays to her neck and trying to wave a dermal regenerator over her abdomen. Her face had drained of all pigment and her eyelids lazily opened and closed.

"Damnit! We don't have time for this! Jim, set her down!" Kirk helped McCoy lower Kitto to the floor, right in the middle of the transporter room. Opening the med kit he had brought with him McCoy attached diodes to Kitto's head and chest. Continuing to wave the dermal regenerator over her wound he told Kirk to check the readouts from the medical tricorder he had passed to him. Blood began to pool at Kitto's side and Kirk had to swallow the rising bile in his throat.

"Jim! How's her heartbeat?" McCoy asked him. "JIM! Her heartbeat!" He repeated, snapping Kirk out of his shock induced state. He quickly checked the readouts in front of him.

"She's going into arrest." He looked at McCoy wide eyed.

"Damn it!" McCoy pressed even more hyposprays into her neck and side, his hand never stopping the small circular movements it was making over her torso. He grabbed the medical tricorder from Kirk and started tapping furiously, Kitto's body jolted in response from the shock he had just given her.

"Come on." Bones gritted out.

Kitto's frame violently jerked again, Kirk had to look away.

"Bones?" Kirk whispered, McCoy knew what he was asking. Would she survive? He didn't answer. Kirk put his hand on her cheek. "Don't die Devon." Even in the midst of it all, Kirk's caring act and words didn't go unnoticed by his friend, the tender touch of her cheek, the use of her first name. After what felt like a lifetime to Kirk, the tricorder in McCoy's hand beeped loudly and Kirk saw that McCoy sighed with relief.

"We need to get her to the med bay now!" He focused on Kirk. "She's stable enough to move." Kirk nodded and helped McCoy and the two med bay personnel that had appeared with a bed to lift her safely up. Kirk stood watching as she was swiftly taken away, leaving him standing there with Lieutenant Jenkinson.

"Captain I…" Jenkinson began to speak but the way Kirk snapped his head towards him and the look in his eyes made him shut his mouth instantly.

"Lieutenant…" Kirk's voice was full of anger and vitriol, Jenkinson took a step back and bowed his head.

"Sir I am so…" Before he could apologise Kirk was stood in front of him not leaving an inch of space between them.

"Don't you dare apologise Lieutenant, don't you dare!" He whispered through clenched teeth. He was on the brink of losing it he knew it. "You're dismissed." He just wanted the man gone, he wanted him out of his sight before his true feelings bubbled to the surface and he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself. Jenkinson seemed to be very much aware of this as he turned on his heel and swiftly left the room. Kirk remained still, staring at the door that the Lieutenant had just flown through.

"Captain Kirk?" He looked down at his hands and realised Kitto's blood was all over them. "Sir? Captain?" The voice of the Lieutenant stood next to him that had been manning the transporter finally registered, he looked up and gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Yes Lieutenant?" Kirk asked him.

"Captain, do you want some help? Can I help you?" The man could clearly see that Kirk was in shock.

"I uh…? I think I'm…" Kirk trailed off.

"Captain, do you want me to accompany you to the med bay or do you want to go to your quarter's maybe?" He asked. Kirk was still staring into space.

"I'll be alright, thank you Lieutenant." He mumbled as he walked out the room.

* * *

Several hours later and McCoy eventually found him in the ready room of all places, sat at the far end of the long table, his chair turned away facing the large window that spread the length of the room.

"Contemplating our complete meaninglessness in the vastness of the universe by any chance Jim?" Bones asked as he entered the room.

"Helpful as ever Bones." Jim responded glibly.

"When I was a trainee Doctor, still wet behind the ears I broke my leg while on campus." McCoy walked round the table and leant against the window Kirk had been staring at. Kirk shifted uncomfortably in his seat, clearly annoyed that his time alone had been so rudely interrupted by his CMO.

"Not now Bones." Kirk muttered, rubbing his hands over his face wearily and pinching the bridge of his node with his thumb and forefinger.

"A fellow medical student, pretty little thing, I can't remember her name?" McCoy creased his brow, trying to remember the name of this woman he hadn't thought about for ten years

"Bones? Now isn't the time…" Kirk frustratingly whispered.

"Sophie Payne!" McCoy exclaimed while clicking his fingers, happy that he had remembered the moniker.

"Doctor Payne?" Kirk couldn't help but laugh despite the foul mood he found himself in.

"Yes, well…it was unfortunate. That's not the point of the story Jim."

"Well can you please get to the point of the story Bones, I'm tired." McCoy gave his friend his own frustrated look and then continued.

"Sophie had hated me from the moment we met, I'd insulted her in some way and she never forgave me for it. We carried on getting on each other's nerves for the entire semester."

"Sounds about right."

"Damnit Jim, Shut up and listen! So there I am, sprawled out on the grass and…"

"How sweet Bones, get to the point will you." Kirk askedinterrupting him again.

"You really are an idiot Jim!" McCoy threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"That's uncalled for!"

"I disagree! Alright, have it your way. How long have you been in love with Devon Kitto?" Kirk's mouth fell open.

"What?" Was the only thing he could muster.

"You heard me, how long have you been in love with the Chief? And how long has she been in love with you?" McCoy crossed his arms, making it clear that neither of them were going anywhere until they'd hashed this out.

"I don't know?" Kirk finally mumbled.

"So I was right, when did you sleep together?" Kirk's jaw dropped for a second time.

"We haven't slept together Bones, it's not like that." Kirk stood and started pacing the room.

"So what's it like?"

"How did you know by the way? You know what, scrap that. I don't want to know." Kirk stopped pacing. "I can't explain it Bones, I despised her at the Academy, didn't want to give her the position on the Enterprise while I'm being honest and she's continued to piss me off since then." McCoy laughed.

"She got under your skin Jim and no, you didn't despise her at the Academy. You admired her; you were just too proud and stubborn to admit it." Kirk was going to argue back but changed his mind, knowing that McCoy was right.

"I thought I'd lost her Bones, I thought I'd lost her before I even had the chance to…" Kirk's voice cracked and he stopped talking, shaking his head and closing his realised in that moment how much this woman meant to his friend, this wasn't some passing fling or flirtation. Itwasn't two people who disliked one another and misconstrued those feelings for lust.

"You think a dog bite is going to put her down Jim? The woman's indestructible!" McCoy was trying to make him feel better, he appreciated it more than ever.

"They were a bit bigger than a dog Bones!" Kirk laughed despite himself. "Did you go out with Sophie Payne?" Kirk asked, feeling a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Just speaking openly with his friend had made the whole situation easier to comprehend.

"We were sweethearts for three years." McCoy remarked wistfully.

"Why didn't you marry her?"

"That's a story for another day Jim, come on, let's go get a drink." McCoy held out a hand and placed it around Kirk's shoulders. "You and the Chief eh? That's going to be interesting…" He let out a slow whistle.

"Tell me about it."

* * *

Devon lay on the training mat stretching her leg over the other. Opposite her Kirk stood running on one of the many machines available to the crew to ensure their fitness was kept at optimum level.

"You checking me out Chief?" Kirk grunted out, his feet thudding on the treadmill.

"Yes." She shouted back over to him, a smile appearing across her red flushed face.

"You could have at least tried to deny it, you know, ever heard of playing it cool?" Kirk slowed the machine down so he was now jogging at a gentler pace.

"Not my style." Devon twisted her torso and stretched the other leg over.

"I'm figuring that out." Kirk let the machine ground to a halt and hopped off, flipping the lid off his water bottle he took huge great gulps as he watched Devon gently rotate her hip.

"Jesus! Sonofabitch!" Devon doubled over in pain, Kirk dropped his bottle and immediately sprinted over to fall to her side.

"Devon! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Kirk's voice was full of worry, his hand went up to his communicator but before he could press it Devon grabbed his upper arms with her hands, pushed him back and pinned him to the mat.

"Gotcha!" It took a moment for Kirk to realise what Devon had just done and he wasn't afraid to admit it, he was mad at her.

"Damnit Devon I thought something was seriously wrong with you!" He struggled under her weight but she tightened her grip, letting him know he wasn't going anywhere. She didn't say anything, she just stared at him until she had his full attention. "You want to kiss me." He whispered.

"I do?" She replied, getting even closer to him.

"Yeah, you do." He answered confidently.

"I told you not to call my bluff Kirk." She warned him, she could feel his muscles twitch under her grip.

"You should know by now that I don't always do what I'm told." In one fluid movement he flipped her over so that he was the one straddling her. "Answer the question."

"Yes." She didn't look away from him.

"Still playing it cool I see." He couldn't help but laugh.

"Like I said, not my style." He slowly dipped his head towards her so that their lips were barely touching. Neither of them jutted forward, both wanting it to be a mutual choice to kiss the other. They pressed together and both closed their eyes, it was slow and gentle. Devon opened her mouth slightly inviting Kirk to deepen the kiss which he did eagerly. When Devon felt his hands roam up the side of her ribcage and through her hair she recalled the fact that they were on a mat in the middle of the isometrics bay.

"Jim." She managed to speak against his lips, Kirk hummed in response. "Jim, we should stop." She turned her head away but he simply carried on kissing her neck instead.

"Why? You still having second thoughts? You still think we need to get to know one another better?" He was teasing her she knew it, he spoke between his kisses and pulls.

"No, because we're making out in the middle of the gym." She couldn't help but laugh.

"And…" There was no stopping this man Devon thought to herself, not that she wanted him to stop if she were being honest with herself.

"Somebody might walk in?" She offered as a reason.

"I never thought of you as a prude Devon." He'd turned his attention to her ear, which made it even harder for her to concentrate.

"You're not thinking straight."

"Damn straight I'm not thinking straight." Kirk captured her mouth with his again.

"Jim." Her voice sounded so sweet to him that he stopped to look at her.

"You are so beautiful." He said it so sincerely and honestly that she couldn't help but blush.

"Thank you Jim but we really have to stop." Kirk gave out a groan.

"I know I know, I just don't want to let you go." He knelt up and offered her his hand. Taking it Devon sat up herself, smoothing out her hair and catching her breath.

"You off shift tonight?" His eyes lit up at her simple question.

"Yes."

"You want to come to mine for dinner?" She held out her hand to him when she was stood up and he was still kneeling on the mat.

"Yes." He answered as he took her hand and stood himself.

"Now who's playing it cool?" She teased.

* * *

 ** _Not sure if you lovely people are enjoying this but it's fun to write and I have what I think is a great storyline coming up which will really test Kirk and Kitto's relationship. Let me know what you think so far by leaving a review, it would be much appreciated but above all I hope you enjoy reading this! ;-) LLAP XOXO_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Eight Months Later**

Devon stood at her station on the bridge, it had been twelve hours since Kirk, Spock and McCoy had beamed down to Glantschnig Delta Six for a week long Federation symposium on advanced xeno cultural mindfulness, the title of which led to many a colourful metaphor from Kirk and McCoy and if it was at all possible, a look of pure excitement from Spock.

"It's nice isn't it?" Uhura spoke to her from where she sat.

"What is?" Devon asked, creasing her brow in confusion.

"The peace and quiet." There was a twinkle in her eye, Devon smiled and gave her a wink.

"How do you think they're getting on?" Uhura gave her a pointed look. "You're right, forget I asked." She looked down at her console, no issues, no problems. No enemy spacecraft in the vicinity, no gaseous lifeforms. If she was being honest with herself she was bored out of her mind. Not that the idea of sitting and listening to lecture after lecture with Commander Spock, Doctor McCoy or Captain Kirk sounded any better. She'd seen Jim that morning before she had had to leave for her shift. He woke up just in time to see her pull on her boots and give herself one last look over in the bathroom mirror.

"You look great!" He'd shouted from the bed, she had immediately broken out into a huge grin and she could see that her cheeks had turned a crimson red in the mirror. He was the only one who could elicit such a reaction from her, she straightened her face before walking out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

"You look like shit." She deadpanned.

"Thanks." Kirk rolled his eyes and jumped out of bed, capturing her round the waist before she could leave. "I'm going to miss you today." It was Devon's turn to roll her eyes.

"What's got into you?" She asked trying to pull herself out of his grasp, she hated being late for her shift and he knew it.

"Nothing, I'm just going to miss being on the bridge with you and you questioning my every command." She couldn't help but bite.

"I do not question your every command!" She swatted his hands away as he tried to recapture her.

"Do too."

"I'm going." She opened the door and walked through it, not looking back. She had to smile though when she heard his voice before the door closed behind her.

"Miss you!"

* * *

Kirk stood in the large conference room flanked by his First Officer and Chief Medical Officer.

"Keep it together Bones." He whispered out the side of his mouth, smiling politely at other attendees as they passed by.

"I will not! A damned week stuck here, listening to this…"

"Bones!" Kirk cut him off warningly, McCoy sulked off not before muttering something about getting a real drink.

"Spock, do you see anyone we know?" Kirk asked.

"I do not Captain." Kirk continued to survey the room, he recognised a couple of faces. People that had been in his class at the Academy, a lot were visiting dignitaries and politicians from planets who were members of the Federation. As if on cue a face in the crowd caught his eye, he couldn't forget those eyes.

"Spock, I'll be back okay." Spock didn't have time to reply before Kirk headed off into the crowd. Making his way through the people he watched as she spoke to someone, her face animated in conversation. She hadn't changed a bit as far as he was concerned. Still as passionate it would seem, he sidled up beside her and listened to her for moment.

"I see you haven't lost your passion for debate." He spoke confidently. She turned to him, looking frustrated that she'd been interrupted but as soon as her eyes fell on his face her expression changed. She smiled slowly and knowingly, lowering her head so that she was looking at him through her eyelashes, she laughed casually.

"I see you haven't lost your charm James T. Kirk." Her voice was like treacle, he'd forgotten how good she was at this.

"Captain Kirk." He corrected her pointedly, not wanting to give her the upper hand. "It's nice to see you again Captain Mortimer." He held out his hand formally, she took it and shook firmly but pulled him in at the last minute and kissed him on the cheek. Regaining the upper hand he thought to himself, he was going to have to be careful.

"Call me Lauren, James, please. We're old friends." She explained to the other men stood around her. "If you'll excuse me gentleman." She threaded her arm through his and began to move away, all the while Kirk didn't fail to notice that the men were scowling at him and fawning over her.

Lauren Mortimer was a formidable woman, tall, pointed features, piercing brown eyes and a very short angular bob, the fringe of which cut across her forehead and almost gave her a Vulcan look in appearance. When they had cleared the crowd and were stood to one side Lauren came to a stop.

"James, how long has it been?" She asked, squeezing his arm as she spoke.

"Since the Academy Lauren." He answered, knowing she wasn't the least bit interested in his answer, it was all a game, and it always had been. He couldn't deny it though; he still felt a strong attraction towards her. She was danger and safety, innocence and guilt wrapped up in one. She was anything she wanted to be and anything you wanted her to be. Kirk made a mental note to remind him of that fact as he stood in front of her now.

"It hasn't been that long! How are you?"

"Well, you?" He asked.

"Fine, fine. Oh you must take me on a tour of the Enterprise,I've been dying to get a chance to see her!" She was looking around the room as she spoke to him, he laughed,remembering that there always seemed to be something more important Lauren should have been doing with her time than spending it with him.

"Of course, it would be my pleasure." He answered politely,she looked back at him, lowering her gaze again.

"Maybe we could pick up where we left off?"

"And where was that Lauren?" Kirk wasn't going to play her game.

"The kitchen floor? The dining room table? I can't quite remember James, you tell me." She laughed, Kirk caught sight of McCoy and had to stop himself from sighing in relief.

"Bones! Over here." McCoy made his way over and couldn't quite figure out the look on his friend's face, it was something akin to terror. "Lauren, this is my CMO Doctor Leonard McCoy, Bones this is Captain Mortimer, we were on the Command track at the Academy together. McCoy held out his hand and was surprised at the firmness of her grip, it wasn't confident, more threatening in nature.

"Pleasure." She dismissed him with one word.

"Captain." McCoy replied curtly and then looked to Kirk who was pleading with his eyes for him not to leave them alone again.

"Captain Mortimer." Kirk spoke tightly to McCoy.

"James, call me Lauren!" She interrupted.

"Lauren would like to see the Enterprise, can you let Scotty know she'll be beaming up with us later this evening?" McCoy found it strange that he was asking him, but went along with it anyway.

"Yeah, sure Jim." He answered confused at his friend's behaviour.

"There are a few more people I need to speak to beforehand James, I'll see you later." Lauren gave him a kiss on the cheek again and walked away leaving McCoy and Kirk stood watching after her.

"Who the hell was that?" McCoy asked.

"Lauren Mortimer." Kirk answered simply.

"Yeah? Well she scares the hell out of me, were you two?"

"Yeah, we were." Kirk answered the unspoken question.

"I don't remember seeing her…"

"It was short lived." Kirk interrupted.

"Wow." McCoy slowly whistled, Kirk just nodded in agreement. "I can't wait for Devon to meet her." McCoy laughed as he spoke, Kirk's head spun so fast that McCoy wouldn't have been surprised if he had given himself whiplash.

"Bones!"

"Oh, you forgot the fact that your Girlfriend serves on the Enterprise and you've just invited your Ex on board for a tour?" McCoy was enjoying himself too much.

"Bones!" Kirk muttered again, his face had drain of all it'scolour.

"Well, good luck with that Jim let me know how that goes." McCoy slapped him on the back and walked off leaving Kirk stood alone.

* * *

"So, this is the bridge?" They had explored the entire ship, all the while Lauren would compliment Kirk on his ship. The engineering room, the sick bay, the hydroponic bays. She had taken particular interest in the weapons and defence bays, which didn't surprise Kirk as she always had been fascinated with the defensive purposes of Starfleet. As soon as Kirk stepped onto the bridge and saw Devon at her station his heartrate quickened and he could feel himself begin to perspire. He told himself to get a grip, that Devon was in no way the jealous type and couldn't be more professional in her approach to her work. Since they had started upon their relationship they had remained professional at all times, not allowing their personal feelings to encroach on their duties. He'd been surprised at how well they had managed to do just that, but he knew it was the bedrock of their personal relationship and incredibly important to Devon to uphold. Now then, faced with the prospect of introducing Lauren Mortimer to Devon Kitto, he took a deep breath, told himself he was being ridiculous and pressed forward.

"Impressive James." Lauren purred, he wished she'd stop calling him by his first name. "So, aren't you going to introduce me to your crew?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Uh yeah, of course." He fumbled over his words as he walked towards the closest station. "This is Lieutenant Sulu and Ensign Chekov."

"A pleasure gentleman." Lauren greeted them confidently.

"And this is my Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura." He continued, after a short exchange between the two women he walked toward Devon, who turned to him and nodded politely.

"This is my Chief Tactical Officer Lieutenant Commander Kitto." Devon smiled warmly and held out her hand to Lauren.

"Captain Mortimer, it's a pleasure. I'm friends with your First Officer, Dustin Gower?" Devon waited for a response but Lauren was already looking around the room, she quickly glanced at Kirk who was nervously looking between the pair of them.

"James, will you show me your ready room?" Devon didn't fail to notice how the woman in front of her fluttered her eyelashes at Kirk, and the way she kept touching his arm as she spoke to him.

"Yes, follow me." Kirk didn't look at Devon before he walked off in the direction of his ready room. Devon didn't find it wholly strange, there were many Captains who deemed themselves more important than others so the fact that the woman had ignored her didn't cause too much insult. It was Kirk's behaviour that alarmed her, he was nervous and if there was one thing she knew about Jim Kirk it was that he didn't get nervous around women.

* * *

As fate would have it Devon didn't get a chance to ask Kirk about his unusual behaviour when he had introduced Captain Mortimer to her. Her shift didn't end until after he had returned to Delta Six and by the time she made it back to her quarters she was dead on her feet and just wanted to go to bed.

The next day flew by without incident, Devon ran through some long overdue functional and capability analysis reports that each department were required to carry out. She held meetings with department heads and oversaw a training and development course for Ensigns and Lieutenants. All in all, by the time she handed over at the end of her shift she felt like she'd had a very productive day. She was looking forward to listening to some music and hopefully finishing the painting that she had started months ago, if Kirk appeared at her door at some point well, that would be the cherry on the cake.

* * *

"Come on Jim, I'm tired and hungry and want to go to bed." McCoy was practically dragging Kirk through the crowd.

"I'm right behind you! Don't you think I feel the same way?" Kirk was ready to beam back on board and go see Devon, he had missed her all day and it was the only thing that kept him stood upright at this point.

"James." The voice coursed through him and he felt his spine stiffen, not now he thought to himself.

"Lauren, how are you?" He gritted out, trying to remain courteous. She gave him a sickly sweet smile and sidled up to him.

"I haven't seen you all day, I wanted to invite you to dinner." McCoy had stopped and was stood next to Kirk, she had ignored his presence entirely, he was about to engage in small talk with a woman he felt was surely mentally unhinged, especially when it came to Jim Kirk. In fact, McCoy felt it necessary to tell his friend just what he thought of Lauren Mortimer, he just need to get him away for a moment.

"That's very nice of you Lauren but I can't." Kirk started but she held her hand up.

"I'm not taking no for an answer James, we have so much to catch up on and I wanted to speak to you about a conversation I'm having with Admiral Hogno." Kirk knew the name but couldn't place it, she waited for him to answer for a moment before she lost patience. "You haven't answered my question James?" He was intrigued he couldn't deny it, turning to McCoy he excused himself and pulled McCoy to one side out of Lauren's earshot.

"Bones, will you do me a favour? Will you let Devon know I'll be late?" McCoy almost barked.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind Jim?! That woman is mad as a box of frogs and if you think I'm going to tell Kitto that you're having dinner with your ex-girlfriend then you're as mad as she is!" McCoy's eyebrow was arched in disbelief.

"She's not my ex-girlfriend Bones!" Kirk whispered tersely.

"Alright then Jim, the woman you use to sleep with. Shall I use that description when telling Kitto where you are? I'm not doing your dirty work for you Jim, tell her yourself." With that McCoy strode away. Turning back to Lauren Kirk gave her a tight smile.

"Finally, I've been waiting to get you all alone and to myself." She linked her arm through his and began to walk in the other direction. One word kept running through Kirk's head, mistake. It was a mistake to stay, it was a mistake to have dinner with Lauren Mortimer and it was a mistake not to tell Devon who this woman really was.

* * *

Devon dried her hair and threw the towel into the laundry chute, sitting at her desk she checked her PADD. While she'd been in the shower a message had come through from Kirk. Opening it she read the single sentence quickly.

' _Sorry, have to stay and meet with someone. X'_

She placed her PADD back down and practically threw herself on her bed, it was a shame she wasn't going to see Kirk but she couldn't deny that getting a decent night's sleep wasn't a bad consolation prize.

* * *

 ** _Are you still enjoying the show? Hope so! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	16. Chapter 16

"Well this is a nice surprise." Devon sat at the desk in her quarters looking at the smiling face of Dustin Goweron her PADD.

"I thought it rude not to make the effort when we're orbiting the same planet, how are you?" Dustin Gower was a six foot tall man, tanned skin, brown hair and hazel eyes that never lost their focus and always made you feel like you were the only person in the room. When they were at Starfleet Academy together Dustin had become Devon's study partner after their Tutor had put them together in class. He helped her achieve the marks she needed to and in turn, Devon developed Dustin's practicality, encouraging him to not always approach every scenario from a purely academic perspective.

"I'm good thanks and you? How are Cristina and the boys?" Devon smiled from ear to ear, it was good seeing a friendly face from her past.

"Great thanks for asking, Jose is taller than Cris now!" She could see the pride on his face.

"I met your Captain the other day, Mortimer?" He raised his eyebrows in response.

"Oh yeah? What'd you think?" She opened her mouth to respond but changed her mind.

"She's…intense?" Devon shrugged her shoulders finally, not knowing what term to choose.

"That's one word for her but there's no denying she's one hell of a Captain."

"Are we going to get a drink together?" She asked him excitedly.

"Of course! Wouldn't miss the chance to drink you under the table." Dustin winked his eye at her playfully.

"That'll be the day, I'll send you a time and place, you should come here. You haven't seen her yet have you?" Devon knew he wouldn't pass up the chance of seeing the Enterprise.

"Don't tease me Kitto." They said their goodbyes and Devon terminated the communication. Sitting back she smiled to herself, it would be good to see Dustin, it would be good to introduce him to Jim if she had the chance also. She was interested to see what her friend thought of Captain James T Kirk, they hadn't known each other at the Academy so what he did know had come from Devon and she hadn't exactly been a fan back in the day. The sound indicating that someone was at her door sounded, walking over she smiled when she saw who was stood on the other side.

"Hello stranger." Kirk looked at her guiltily.

"Hi, can I come in?" He asked as if she could possibly say no, she moved to one side and he quickly walked passed her.

"Jim, I will never not let you in, why have you got your tail tucked between your legs?"

"Because I haven't seen you for a while." He pulled her into a hug, she closed her eyes against his chest and breathed him in.

"You're a busy man." Her words were muffled as she spoke.

"You're too good for me." His words were interjected by kisses placed on the top of her head.

"Tell me something I don't know, do you want a drink? Have you eaten?" She pulled out slightly and gave him a long loving kiss.

"Yes and yes." He answered, smiling contently. She laughed and removed herself from his grasp, going over to the small galley kitchen she replicated two drinks and set them on the table in the middle of the living room. Taking a seat she patted the empty space next to her on the sofa. Kirk did as he was told and sat next to her taking a long swig of his drink he let his head fall back.

"How is the symposium going?" Devon asked.

"Slow."

"Well you're putting the hours in, you must be making some headway? Any old faces?" Kirk was glad that his eyes were closed as she asked her last question, his chest tightened and he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"A few." He answered simply. Why did he feel the need to keep the fact that he had had dinner with Lauren Mortimer, an ex-something of his from her? She hadn't given him any reason to, he had never kept anything from her before. He was already berating himself for not taking the opportunity then and there to let her know that this crazy woman he had once 'dated' was there and wouldn't leave him alone. Knowing Devon she would probably just laugh and tease him about it. A voice in the back of his head suggested to him it was because he was still attracted to Lauren Mortimer, he pushed that voice to the back of his mind.

"Well, that should take the edge off at least huh?" She was stroking his hair away from his forehead as she spoke, she really was too good for him. He'd come to see a whole different side to Devon since they beganseeing one another. She was incredibly sensitive to his needs and very caring, a side he hadn't experienced as a fellow Officer.

"I suppose, I'd rather be here with you though." Devon laughed.

"You mean you'd rather be here with me but on the bridge fighting a gaseous lifeform?" He crinkled his nose in deliberation.

"Well, maybe you're right." He conceded.

* * *

Devon stood in the Stellar Cartography room, in front of her Dustin let out a low, slow whistle.

"It's something." He turned to look at her.

"Isn't it." She was glad he liked the ship, she'd taken him on a full tour and he'd been impressed at every turn. "You fancy that drink now?" He nodded in response. As they walked down the corridor to the rec room she filled him in on all the gossip from the last twelve months, the scrapes and near death experiences. They sat at a table and toasted one another.

"So, you haven't mentioned how you're finding Jim Kirk as a Captain?" Dustin placed his glass back on the table and watched his friend closely for any tell-tale signs of uneasiness.

"You might not believe me but we've really settled in Dustin, he's an excellent Captain and he trusts me as his CTO."

"I'm glad to hear it, I know when you first started you had your doubts." Dustin thought back to the call they had had where Devon had all but threatened to go AWOL.

"Rightfully so given the fact that he wouldn't even look at me but no, really Dustin, we're getting on really well." Devon could feel her cheeks flush.

"Devon?" Dustin leant forward and arched an eyebrow at her.

"What?" She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, damn those hazel eyes of his. It reminded her of how Doctor McCoy could take a man down with one look.

"Are you and Captain Kirk?" Dustin motioned with his hands a rather risqué action, Devon leant forward quickly and pushed his hands down to his lap.

"Dustin!" She whispered harshly. "Jesus!" He didn't say anything, he just sat back and waited for her to break the silence between them. "It's not like that!" She finally offered up.

"So what's it like?"

"It's more than that."

"Really?"

"Yes really? We actually have a lot in common and he's very considerate and…" She trailed off not really knowing what to say.

"This is the strangest thing I've ever heard." Dustin shook his head in disbelief.

"You're telling me, but I'm happy Dustin. I really am." She could tell that for a moment he was worried about her.

"So where is he?"

"At the symposium, I told him you were coming but he had to send his apologies, he wanted to meet you." Dustin waved his hand in dismissal.

"Not to worry, I'm sure I'll meet him soon enough." They sat and chatted for a while until Dustin said his goodbyes and went back to his ship. As soon as he stepped on board his communicator beeped.

"What now?" He just wanted to go to bed. "Commander Gower." He answered.

"Commander, please can you come to the bridge, Lieutenant Pastore has detected something irregular in Engineering."

"Where is Captain Mortimer?" Dustin creased his brow, she was supposed to be on shift.

"She's in her ready room Sir, she instructed that she not to be disturbed." The voice answered hesitantly, Dustin sighed.

"Alright, I'm on my way." Making his way to the bridge he slapped his cheeks a couple of times to waken himself up. Stepping through the door he made his way to Lieutenant Pastore. After ten minutes of nonsense,Dustin explained away the anomaly and told Pastore he was going to his quarters. As he turned to leave Mortimer's ready room door opened.

"Ahh Gower, there you are!" Lauren confidently strode out to stand in front of him. "I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine Captain James T. Kirk. James, this is my First Officer, Dustin Gower." Dustin looked at Kirk, surprised to see him on his ship and not planet side attending the symposium as Devon had told him. His surprise was surpassed by Kirk's it seemed because Dustin didn't fail to notice the look of shock that swept over the man's face. Kirk held out his hand to shake.

"It's good to meet you." He smiled tightly.

"And you." Dustin replied.

"James and I knew each other at the Academy." Mortimer gushed, Dustin knew instantly what she meant by the statement. Looking back at Kirk he wondered if the rumours that had followed Kirk around at the Academy weren't too far from the truth now. If that was the case he wasn't worried about Devon, she'd find out soon enough if she didn't know already and kill him, it was that simple. He couldn't help but smile at the thought. No, what worried him was the fact that there was an ongoing investigation into Mortimer that he was a part of and he now wasn't sure whether Kirk was involved also?

"I'm sorry I couldn't meet you with Chief Kitto on board the Enterprise." Kirk talking snapped him from his thoughts, he obviously knew he'd been caught doing something he said he wasn't Dustin thought to himself.

"Not to worry, Captain, Devon mentioned you were busy with the symposium." Both men clearly knew the reality of the situation they found themselves in.

"I best be going, Lauren I'll see you tomorrow I'm sure, Gower, it was good to meet you." He nodded at Dustin and left, Dustin couldn't deny that he seemed a perfectly reasonable, nice sort of man. He could even see why Devon was attracted to him but the fact that he was meeting with Mortimer and kept it from Devon didn't sit well. As far as he was concerned there was two possibilities, both of which he knew wouldn't end well.

* * *

"How are you enjoying it up to now James?" Mortimer looked around the room as she spoke to him the following morning.

"I think it's very beneficial Captain Mortimer, and you?" James replied, trying to instil some professionalism between them.

"I suppose it's of benefit, if you sign up to the Federation's way of thinking." Kirk arched his eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Lauren turned her attention back to him, he watched her expression change from staid to playful. She placed her hand on his shoulder and slowly stroked her long fingers down the length of his arm.

"Oh enough about all that James, let's go find a dark corner somewhere shall we?" She winked at him and tugged at his arm, Kirk tried to untangle himself from her grasp.

"Lauren, stop." He whispered to her, not wanting to make a scene.

"James, what's wrong with you? You can't deny there's still such a strong attraction between us." She turned so that her mouth was close to his ear. "Don't. You. Want. My. Legs. Around. You. Again?" She punctuated each word the tiniest lick of her tongue against his earlobe. Kirk closed his eyes and willed the growing arousal away.

"Lauren please, I can't." She snapped upright, looking at him as if they were discussing which season they preferred on Earth.

"James, you really need to relax." She rolled her eyes at him and laughed. "Alright alright I'm sorry okay?" She looked at him condescendingly. "Let me make it up to, let me buy you a drink." Kirk barked with laughter.

"Are you kidding me Lauren!?" He looked at her astonished.

"Now don't be like that James, I said I was sorry and I mean it! Let me buy you a drink to apologise, I would like us to be friends. Honestly." She looked at him expectantly, even though his brain was telling him no Kirk found himself saying yes.

* * *

"Twice in one week! This is going to be a record Dustin." Devon continued to towel her hair as she sat at her desk talking with her friend, Kirk had been held up again so she had gone to see Betts after her shift.

"Strange isn't it? And you thought you'd got rid of me." Dustin smiled back at her. "Is this a secure line?" His face had become serious as soon as he had uttered the question.

"Yes, why?" She couldn't help but ask immediately.

"I need to speak to you about something…of a sensitive nature." Devon nodded and dropped the towel to the floor, no longer bothered about her wet hair.

"I met your Captain Kirk the day before yesterday." He said.

"You did?" Devon creased her brow in confusion.

"Yeah, I did. Here, on the Resolute." Devon immediately wanted to ask all the questions that were flooding into her head, she bit her lip to stop herself from interrupting. "He was with Captain Mortimer." He looked at her expectantly, her head was still spinning with questions.

"I see, he didn't say anything." She finally managed to speak.

"I know he didn't and I don't think you do see Devon, after the attack by Khan there's been rumours that fractions of Starfleet believe that we should become more militarised."

"What?" Devon interrupted, that wasn't where she thought the conversation was going.

"The Federation is an interstellar federal republic, composed of planetary governments that agreed to exist semi-autonomously under a single central government."

"We've all heard the spiel Dustin." Devon interrupted, slightly perplexed.

"It's based on the principles of universal liberty, rights, and equality, and to share knowledge and resources in peaceful cooperation, scientific development, space exploration and defensive purposes." Dustin continued. "But Devon, there are some, more each day it seems that believe we need to approach our goals head on. They believe that perhaps Starfleet need to look to its history and remember its military prowess and the effectiveness that that can bring. The interests of Earth could be better served." Dustin was looking at her intently, watching her every move, trying to work out what she thought about what he was saying to her. Devon knew that also, so chose her words very carefully.

"But how do they think they'll achieve it?" She asked.

"There is authority within the Federation."

"How do you mean?" She inhaled slowly.

"Federation law grants the government emergency authority to override local governance and declare martial law on a member's territory Devon" He leant in and whispered to her.

"And you think Mortimer is proposing to incite this law?" Dustin nodded slowly. "Who else do you think is involved?"

"There are a few we believe who are attending the symposium who share the same opinion. We believe Admiral Hogno is one the ones leading the charge."

"Wasn't he connected with Admiral Marcus?" Devon asked, the pieces of the puzzle slowly coming together.

"After the attack by Khan there were those that seriously believed that if Starfleet had been more…battle-ready that we would have had a fighting chance?"

"What's all this got to do with you seeing Jim on your ship?" She hated that she even had to ask the question,Dustin took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his face. "What is it Dustin?" Devon could tell he was struggling with whatever he had to say next.

"I hate to say this to you but do you think Kirk could share the same opinions?"

* * *

 ** _Well!? What do you think? Thank you for the follows and favourites, glad you're enjoying it! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	17. Chapter 17

"I hate to say this to you but do you think Kirk could share the same opinions?" Devon instantly shook her head. "I'm pretty positive Mortimer is one of the individuals involved but look, I don't know Kirk myself but he has history with Mortimer and the fact that he met with her without telling you leads me to believe that he is involved in some way." Dustin lowered his gaze, he loathed telling his friend what he thought. He knew that it hurt her just hearing the words.

"I didn't know." Devon cleared her throat, it felt tight and her chest was heavy.

"Didn't know what?"

"About Jim and Captain Mortimer."

"He didn't tell you?" Devon shook her head. "I'm sorry to do this to you Devon, but my concern is on a larger scale than your boyfriend not telling you about one of his exes." It came out harsher than he anticipated and the fact that Devon visibly recoiled at his words filled him with guilt. Before he could apologise he watched her clear her throat and pull her shoulders back, he knew what she was doing. She was burying her personal feelings and approaching the situation from a purely professional standpoint.

"Do you have any evidence to support your theory?" She asked, her voice clear and direct.

"Nothing concrete, we knew that a number of the suspected group were going to be here at the symposium, there are others like me who are trying to figure out how far this goes."

"How and to what extent do you believe Jim to be involved?" She asked, she couldn't help it, she felt sick.

"I don't know yet." Dustin answered honestly. "I might be wrong." Dustin leant forward at his desk.

"You are wrong, I know Jim. He would never do anything like what you're suggesting and quite frankly Dustin, if you want to rip the lid off of this thing then you'll need his help. He was close with Admiral Pike remember, he was there when Khan attacked. He'll know the type you're looking for."

"I hope you're right Devon because otherwise you'll put the lives of thousands in jeopardy." She sighed heavily.

"Dustin, do you have any idea the situation you've put me in?" She rubbed her eyes with her hands and ran her hands through her damp hair.

"Yes I do and I'm sorry." They sat in silence for a moment. "Hey, it's nothing you can't handle." He laughed flippantly, trying to lighten the mood. Devon responded by sticking her middle finger up at him. She let what Dustin had just told her sink in. The man she was seeing had lied to her, at best he was having an affair and at worse her Captain was deceiving her and trying to overthrow the Federation.

"I'll look into it." She finally replied.

"Stay safe Devon."

"You too Dustin." Turning off the communication she sat back in her chair. A sob escaped her throat, she quickly stood and began pacing up and down. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to calm herself down, she didn't even know where to start.

* * *

Kirk was dead on his feet, he'd been listening to other people talk for ten hours straight and quite frankly he just felt like shit. It wasn't like he had much on his plate he thought to himself, he'd lied to Devon about meeting with Lauren Mortimer and he didn't have a clue where to start. Riding the turbolift to his quarters he contemplated just going straight to see Devon and coming clean there and then.

"Computer stop, deck twelve." He took a deep breath, he needed to see her straight away and let her know what was going on. Walking down the corridor he was filled with guilt, he hadn't trusted her and he felt awful about it. Pressing the button on the wall outside her quarters he creased his brow in confusion when there was no answer, he tried again. After a moment he tapped the other button on the console.

"Computer, locate Chief Kitto." Kirk tapped his foot impatiently.

"Lieutenant Commander Kitto is not on board." The computerised voice replied.

"Then where is she?" Kirk automatically replied.

"Lieutenant Commander Kitto transported to the USS Resolute at eighteen hundred hours." The voice answered. Kirk looked around him, as if the answers to his questions were there in the corridor with him. Then it clicked, Dustin Gower. She was friends with Dustin Gower, had he told her about them meeting? Why hadn't she said anything?

"Because you haven't been here to talk to." He muttered to himself. He walked back to his quarters, after maybe an hour of walking back and forth in his living room he finally changed out of his uniform and slid into bed. His head was spinning and if he was being honest with himself he was absolutely exhausted. He didn't know how long he'd been drifting in and out of sleep but he had heard his door open and close and felt the other side of his bed dip with the weight of a body. He was about to turn when he felt a slender arm slide over his side to rest against his chest.

"Long day?" Devon asked.

"Yeah."

"It's nearly over, good night Jim." Devon kissed his shoulder and turned the other way to settle into her pillow.

Kirk knew he wouldn't sleep a wink.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you Kitto?" McCoy stood behind the Captain's chair on the bridge which was currently occupied by a very irate Devon Kitto.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere else Doctor McCoy?" Devon replied tersely.

"I am no longer required at the symposium, so you, Chief, have the pleasure of my company." McCoy couldn't help but grin slightly, he did find it somewhat enjoyable to infuriate Devon but looking at her face more closely he could see that something was well and truly bothering her. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "A word Chief." He gave her a stern look when she turned to look at him over her shoulder, silently telling her not to argue with him. She stood and walked with him to Kirk's ready room, once inside she turned to him with her hands on her hips.

"So, spill it." McCoy crossed his arms in front of him.

"Spill what Leonard?" Devon kept her lips pressed together tightly.

"The reason you're in such a foul mood." She watched him for a moment, what could she tell him? The Captain of the USS Enterprise, her Boyfriend, his best friend, has been seeing another woman who happens to be his ex-girlfriend and lying about it. Or, the Captain of the USS Enterprise, her Boyfriend, his best friend is suspected to be part of a group in Starfleet trying to overthrow the Federation.

"It's…" She couldn't find the right word.

"What?" McCoy was growing inpatient.

"Complicated." She felt exhausted.

"So he finally bit the bullet and told you about Lauren Mortimer?" McCoy heaved a sigh of relief, he'd been telling Jim for the past couple of days that there was no issue with telling Devon about seeing one of his exes at the symposium, Devon wasn't a silly young woman who would become jealous at the idea. Devon herself stood there and was using all of her willpower not to scream at the top of her voice. McCoy knew about Mortimer? But what did he know exactly?

"Yeah, he did." She decided to go along with McCoy's presumption.

"I told him it was nothing to worry about, that you probably wouldn't care less. You're pissed that he kept it from you am I right? He's a damned idiot." McCoy shook his head in disbelief.

"Yep, that's what it is!" Devon shrugged her shoulders at him and gave out a nervous laugh. "He's an idiot sometimes, you know Jim." She walked towards the door, hoping the conversation had come to an end. McCoy seemingly knew nothing about Dustin's theory otherwise he would have said so straight away. "I'll see you later Leonard." She smiled at him again and went back onto the bridge.

McCoy watched her scurry away, she was definitely lying to him he knew it. She was pissed and he didn't think it was because of Lauren Mortimer. He figured for a second it was none of his business and he should just forget about the whole thing but he knew that was easier said than done. Jim was his best friend and he cared about Devon also, he was going to get dragged into it at some point or another he might as well get ahead of the game.

"Damn it Jim." He muttered as he left the bridge.

* * *

Kirk left Spock at the symposium and went back to the ship early the following day, sending a message to Devon that he needed to see her. Walking to her quarters he was steadfast in his objective, clear the whole thing up with Devon. When he arrived he was surprised to see her already sat at her desk waiting for him.

"Hi." He greeted her, she nodded her head in response, not looking away from her PADD.

"The bathrooms on this ship are far better than what we have on the Resolute…" Dustin stopped talking when he noticed Jim Kirk was stood in front of him, his eyes wide in shock. "Captain Kirk, it's good to see you again." He held out his hand to shake but Kirk didn't move an inch, slowly placing it back down he looked to Devon anxiously. "Well, I was just leaving. Hopefully I'll see you again Devon before we leave." Devon smiled at Dustin, standing she walked round her desk and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Once the door had shut she turned to Kirk but before she could speak he interrupted her.

"What the hell is going on Devon!?" She could see he was furious, about what she didn't know.

"Whoa! What's your problem? What do you mean 'what the hell is going on?'" She stood in front of him, bringing herself to her full height.

"Exactly that! Why was Dustin Gower in your quarters?" He had lost his cool he knew it, he knew that he desperately needed to calm down but the sight of the man walking out of her bathroom had incensed him. Devon felt the anger rise up in her gut.

"What are you accusing me of Jim!?" Her voice was raised, she was furious at him. He had lied to her and now he was implying that she was cheating on him with Dustin Gower when the truth was far from it.

Dustin had come to see her to let her know that he no longer believed Jim was involved in the coup d'état of the Federation, that his meetings with Mortimer were something else. That question hadn't been answered but anything was better than the alternative. But stood in front of him in that moment she could feel her heart breaking, he didn't trust her.

"Are you questioning my loyalty to you?"

"It wouldn't be the first time!" He almost spat the words at her, she felt her hands bunch up into tight fists.

"Leave. Now." She ground out.

"Happy to!" He turned on his heel and left.

* * *

Devon's hands hurt, her arms hurt and her legs hurt. Her small tight vest and leggings were practically translucent with sweat. The tie in her hair was so tight she had a head ache.

"Probably because you're kicking the shit out of this bag." She muttered to herself as she punched the boxing bag repeatedly. Sweat dripped down her forehead and into her eyes, she swiped at them haphazardly with her bandaged fists. "You're a sonofabitch James T Kirk." Each word was punctuated with a blow. "I knew you were trouble the moment I laid my eyes on you." Two kicks with her left leg, one with her right. "An ex-girlfriend! Are you kidding me!?"

It was the last day of the symposium, she would see Kirk at the end of the day for their scheduled briefing. They hadn't spoken since the previous night when she had kicked him out of her quarters. Her chest still physically hurt when she thought back to his words, he thought her dishonest. He stood in her quarters and questioned her loyalty to him when all the while he was keeping Lauren Mortimer from her. And the idiot had nearly got himself embroiled in a galaxy wide investigation into Starfleet corruption.

"Idiot idiot idiot." She let her arms fall to her sides, her chest heaved with heavy breathing and she gasped for air. "Pull it together Kitto, this isn't about you." She shook her head and took a gulp of water from her bottle. Wrapping her towel around her neck she unwound the bindings from her knuckles and dropped them in her bag. Pulling out her communicator she opened a channel.

"Kitto to Captain Kirk." Her heart was pounding.

"Kirk here." She could hear the surprise in his voice.

"Captain, I need to speak to you as a matter of urgency." She hoped he wasn't still sulking.

"What's this about Chief?" His voice was professional, but she could tell he was concerned also.

"I'm afraid I can't discuss it now, I'll beam down and meet you in one hour."

"Alright." She felt better already, he would know what to do. The fact that he did have a history with Lauren Mortimer and that they still seemed to have a connection could work in their favour. He was in the perfect position to extract information from her. She blanched at her own thought, the Tactical Officer in her was willing to use him to get to the bottom of the corruption. Did that make her a bad person she thought to herself? She shook the thought from her mind, now wasn't the time.

"Thank you Captain."

"Oh Chief!" Kirk shouted before she ended the communication.

"Yes Captain?"

"Is everything alright?" She knew what he was really asking, was everything alright between them?

"Yes Captain, everything will be fine. Kitto out." Closing the communicator she made her way out of the isometrics room, walking down the corridor her communicator beeped in her bag.

"Uhura to Chief Kitto."

"Kitto here, Lieutenant is everything alright?" Devon stopped walking and stood in the passageway.

"I'm sorry Chief, I have some bad news." Uhura's voice was hesitant.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid I received a message from the Resolute Chief, First Officer Dustin Gower is dead." Devon dropped her bag to the floor, her mind clouded over, her hearing was muffled. She could faintly make out that Uhura was still talking to her, an accident. Captain Mortimer found him, no further investigation.

"Mortimer." Devon whispered.

"Pardon Chief?" Uhura asked, Devon knew what she had to do and she had to do it fast.

"Jim." Two Ensigns stood aghast as they witnessed Chief Tactical Officer Devon K Kitto sprint through the corridor, her loose hair fanning out behind her and shouting into her communicator.

"SCOTTY! Get ready! I'm beaming down to the surface NOW!"

* * *

 ** _Thank you you so much for the follows and favourites, I'm really glad you're enjoying the story. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	18. Chapter 18

"What the hell are you doing here Leonard?" Devon eyeballed McCoy as she bounded into the transporter room.

"I think you've forgotten something Kitto." McCoy looked at her exercise get-up with his signature arched eyebrow. Devon chose to ignore the dig and focus on checking the settings on the phaser in her hand. "I've been on the bridge, I heard about Gower." McCoy was watching her fixedly.

"He's dead." She stated simply; she was surprised at herself. Her eyes weren't stinging with the threat of tears, her chest didn't feel tight. She was numb. His face came to her, he was laughing and smiling, holding his two children in each arm while his Wife was sat on his shoulders. It was the picture he'd kept on his desk when they were at the Academy.

"I know." McCoy walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, it was an astonishing display of affection from McCoy. Snapping her head up she looked at him for the first time since entering the room. She could tell he was evaluating her mental health, the Doctor in him never fully going away but he was also her friend and she could see the concern in his eyes.

"What are you doing here Leonard?" She asked again, her rising emotions threatening to bubble over the surface.

"What are you doing here Kitto?" He returned the question. "Why are you beaming down to the symposium with a phaser in your hand?" He looked at her expectantly.

"I don't have time to explain this to you." She stepped around him and walked to the transporter pad. "Scotty, one to beam down." She instructed firmly, McCoy followed her a second later and stood on the pad next to her. Devon looked at him frustrated.

"You can explain it to me on the way." She knew she wasn't getting rid of him.

"Don't get in my way." Turning back to Scotty she nodded her head. The whirling of white light and noise surrounded her and she closed her eyes for a moment, she felt the tear slide down her cheek. She swore to herself it would be the only tear she would shed, Dustin Gower's life would not be lost in vain. If Lauren Mortimer was willing to kill for her cause, not only was Kirk's life in danger but the whole symposium was in jeopardy. And what better place to weed out the sceptics than a gathering of all the Starfleet Captains and Leaders together.

* * *

As soon as they materialised McCoy pushed Devon to one side, away from prying eyes.

"What the hell's going on?" He whispered to her apprehensively. Devon proceeded to explain what had been happening over the past few days, Kirk meeting with Mortimer, Gower telling her about the plot and Mortimer's involvement. McCoy exhaled slowly and shook his head. "You think Mortimer killed Gower?" McCoy asked, she nodded in reply. "Does Kirk know about any other this?" He continued.

"No." She answered.

"But he told you about seeing Mortimer, why didn't you warn him?"

"You told me about Jim seeing Mortimer Leonard, Jim never told me about seeing Mortimer. He lied to me." McCoy closed his eyes slowly.

"That damned idiot!"

"Dustin alleged he was involved in some way, I couldn't risk exposing the investigation." McCoy opened his mouth to reply but Devon held up her hand. "You don't need to say it Leonard, no I never thought he was involved, turns out he's just a piece of shit." She smiled sadly and shrugged her shoulders in indignation, he knew what she was alluding to as far as Kirk and Mortimer was concerned. She paused, letting it all sink in, the pieces were slowly coming together in McCoy's mind.

"Devon, I can't believe that Jim would…"

"I don't care about that right now." She cut him off. He nodded in response, knowing not to push the matter further.

"Okay, alright. So, what's your plan?"

"Mortimer is obviously planning to do something at this symposium, we need to stop her before anybody else gets killed. If she found out about Gower then who knows what else she found out, he wasn't the only one looking into this." McCoy looked her up and down.

"You know you're going to stick out like a sore thumb don't you!? It's not exactly like we'll have the element of surprise. " She looked down at herself and frowned, it wasn't ideal.

"I guess we'll just have to move fast." She looked at him and gave him a wink.

"Remind me to give you a psych evaluation when we get back to the ship." Walking down the long corridor Devon kept her eyes peeled for any signs of suspicious activity, as they made their way into the large auditorium Devon scanned the seats for Kirk. Eventually she spotted him, he was sitting next to Mortimer. Devon's heart sank but she pushed her feelings to one side and refocussed on the task.

"Let's do this quickly and quietly." She spoke to McCoy in a low tone.

"That'll be the day." McCoy scoffed. Devon ignored him and began walking along the passageway in front of the stage, slowly making her way up the stairs she knew that people's heads were turning in her direction. The man at the lectern carried on speaking. It was almost comical as she watched Kirk turn from the speaker to her, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped. Devon stood at the end of the aisle.

"Captain Kirk, Captain Mortimer, will you please come with me." Despite the fact she used her manners it was clear to everyone around them that she was giving an order. Without a flicker of a response Lauren Mortimer stood and began to follow Devon and McCoy. Kirk had enough sense not to ask any questions until they were clear of the auditorium. As the four of them stood there and looked at each other, Devon kept her eyes trained only on Mortimer.

"Kitto!? What the hell is going on? We said we'd meet in an hour." Kirk whispered angrily.

"Captain Mortimer, I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder…" Devon began calmly.

"What!" Kirk barked but Devon ignored him.

"You do not have to say anything…" Kirk stepped between Devon and Mortimer who hadn't flinched once. She had to give it to the woman, she wasn't giving away anything.

"Lieutenant Commander Kitto! I order you to tell me what the hell is going on right now!" Kirk was angry, his CTO and CMO had appeared out of nowhere and were currently trying to arrest a fellow Captain and he had no idea why.

"Jim, calm down." McCoy took a step forward and placed his hand on Kirk's shoulder but he shrugged him off.

"The hell I will! What are you doing here Bones and why are you out of uniform!?" He turned his attention back to Kitto.

"Captain, I have reason to believe that First Officer Dustin Gower's death was not an accident, I have reason to believe that Captain Mortimer is implicated in his death. Captain…" Devon paused, trying to plead with him silently to trust her. "…She is not who you think she is."

"James, really! Is this all a joke!?" The sound of Mortimer laughing made Devon feel sick, she snapped her head towards her and stood an inch away from her face.

"You think this is a fucking joke?" She spat at the woman, they stared at each other viciously.

"James, tell your _girlfriend_ to back off." Mortimer snickered. Without even thinking Kitto clenched her hand into a fist, as if time had slowed down she felt her arm pull back and with an unbelievable amount of power and force borne from sheer hatred she punched Mortimer square in the jaw knocking the woman to the floor. In an instant McCoy and Kirk grabbed at her arms, pulling her back but not before Devon stood over Mortimer and looked down at her scornfully.

"That was for Dustin."

"CHIEF!" Devon snapped back into reality, turning and looking at Kirk she could see the anger etched on his face.

"Captain, you need to listen to me, this woman is dangerous."

"Enough!" Kirk let go of her arm but McCoy kept hold, his fingers digging into her flesh, a warning not to try anything else. Devon stayed silent as she watched Kirk go to Mortimer, helping the woman stand and almost tenderly checking her cheek. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach returned, Kirk turned back to Devon and McCoy and stormed back over to them.

"Lieutenant Commander Kitto, you are clearly emotionally compromised." Kirk's voice was calm but she could see that he was fighting a torrid of emotions just beneath the surface.

"Jim please, you have no idea what's going on!" Devon pleaded. "Doc, tell him!" She turned to look at McCoy.

"Jim, I know it's damned irregular but Kitto…" McCoy started to speak but Kirk raised his hand up in the air.

"I said enough! You have both crossed the line. I should send you both to the brig! I order you to return to the ship, Kitto, you're confined to your quarters." Kirk began turning back to Mortimer, who had been stood watching. Devon blinked over and over again, he didn't believe her. He didn't trust her. He didn't like her. She inhaled slowly, if she returned to the Enterprise now Mortimer would get away, whatever she was planning she'd know she would have to act fast. The very fact that she had killed Gower meant she was becoming frantic.

She couldn't let any of this happen. McCoy had relaxed his grip on her arm which meant it wasn't hard for Devon to pull out of it completely and step towards Mortimer, moving her hand behind her back she felt her fingertips take hold of the metal handle of her phaser that she had holstered in her waistband. Pulling the weapon round her torso she took aim at Mortimer, she was stood at point blank range and her finger hovered over the trigger.

"I can't obey your order Captain, you're wrong and you're putting the lives of thousands at risk." She didn't look at him as she spoke, keeping her focus on Lauren Mortimer.

"Kitto! DON'T!" McCoy whispered to her.

"Stand down Chief." Devon was taken aback by the brutal tone Kirk used.

"I can't do that Captain, I'm sorry." She saw Kirk move in her peripheral vision, when she turned to look at him her eyes widened in shock. In his hand he held a phaser and it was pointing at her.

"Have you lost your mind!?" She shouted at him.

"Have you!?" He spat back. "Stand down Chief." He repeated.

"You know I can't do that Captain." She shook her head in despair.

"Then you don't give me a choice." Kirk whispered.

The single shot Kirk fired dropped Devon to the ground instantaneously. McCoy dropped to his knees beside her, his hand intuitively ran over her bare stomach looking for a wound but the skin was intact. Checking her pulse he realised Kirk must have simply stunned her, turning his attention back to Kirk McCoy arched an eyebrow in astonishment.

"My god man! Was that really necessary!" Kirk hadn't moved, he was still staring at Devon, she lay unconscious on the floor, her brown curls spread out around her head like a halo.

"Take her to the brig Bones." He spoke quietly and calmly, turning away from the scene as if he couldn't look anymore.

"Jim, you're being a damned fool!" McCoy stood up.

"Bones. Take her to the brig, that's an order."

* * *

Devon shifted slightly, the hard surface she was lying on was certainly not her bed. Opening her eyes she squinted against the harsh white light. Wiping the sleep from her face she slowly sat up, running a hand through her hair.

"Shit." She was in the brig, the sonofabitch had stunned her and thrown her in the brig. Standing she looked at her bare feet. "Does he think I'm going to try and escape using my running shoes as a weapon?" She muttered to herself, looking around the room she spotted the security officer sat at one of the stations. Walking towards the force field that kept her prisoner she tried to ascertain the time. Before she could shout the man's name the main door opened and McCoy strode through determinedly.

"What the hell is going on Leonard?" She seethed.

"Now Devon, wait a damned minute…" McCoy held up his hand in defence.

"He threw me in the brig! The brig Leonard! The bastard stunned me! Where is he? I want to see him now." She stood rod straight, her hands on her bare hips.

"You can't." McCoy muttered.

"What? Why?" Devon asked incredulously.

"He's on the Resolute." She could tell he didn't want to tell her.

"Listen to me very carefully Doc, he's in danger. We all are, you have to let me out. Now." Her voice was low and calm but McCoy was already shaking his head.

"You know I can't do that Devon." He answered. "I just came to check you over." He went to the panel on the wall and tapped away for a moment, turning back to her he crossed his arms across his chest. "There's no permanent damage."

"Don't be too sure." Devon whispered under her breath. "Leonard, listen. You've got to promise me one thing. At the first sign of trouble you come and get me out of here! You have to promise me that." She looked at him earnestly, hoping to god he'd pay attention to her.

"Alright Devon I promise." He nodded at her curtly and left, leaving her stood to wonder what would happen next.

* * *

He felt sick, he felt sick to his stomach and Lauren Mortimer's incessant chatter was only making matters worse. He couldn't stop thinking about her, how she had appeared, how she had raised her weapon at a fellow officer. He couldn't get rid of a niggling feeling, in the moment it seemed so obvious to him. She was jealous,she was also reacting to loss of Dustin Gower and wasn't thinking straight. He thought back to when he had gone to her quarters and he was there, he'd responded like a Neanderthal. He didn't really believe she was having an affair with Dustin Gower, he'd just been angry and lashed out.

He now also realised how hypocritical he had been, it was he who had kept things from her. Why? Did he not trust her to make the right decision? Did he think she really was just emotional woman who wouldn't have believed he was simply spending time with a fellow Captain, one he shared a brief history with? He couldn't forget that if he was being truly honest with himself, he had enjoyed the attention, the flirtation.

"James? James, have you heard anything I've said?" He snapped his head in Lauren's direction who was looking at him expectantly. He stood abruptly from his chair and shook his head, as if he was coming out of a bad dream.

"I have to go Lauren." He muttered as he made his way over to the door.

"Go? James, you just got here!" Lauren laughed, he hated that laugh.

"My CTO is in my brig Lauren, I need to go."

"James please, I thought we were getting close again…" She walked towards him and put her hand on his arm, stroking her thumb up and down. "I wanted to speak to you about something, I wanted to ask for your help." She slowly led him over to the seating area. "It'll only take a minute James, please." He looked at her, she was practically batting her eyes at him.

"One minute Lauren." He warned, Mortimer smiled even more.

"That's all it'll take James."

* * *

 ** _Hope you're still enjoying this as much as I am writing it! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	19. Chapter 19

"Lauren, what you're telling me is very grave, you're trying to take Starfleet away from what the Federation set it out to be." Kirk sat staring at her, he was dumbfounded.

He was also incurably devastated, Devon had been right all along. The feeling of guilt hit him like a freight train,he could only equate the emotion to that of losing a loved one. He hadn't trusted her, he hadn't believed her. He'd made a fool of himself. She'd been the one, all those years ago at the Academy that had tried to make him a good Captain. The right person to lead, to make the right decisions. She'd done more for him than anybody else in his life. And how had he repaid her? He'd ignored her for three years, teased her and then slept with her. For what? Equally though he was also really pissed at her, because he knew that however much she tried to deny it she didn't fully trust him to make the right decision either. She'd questioned him, kept information from him. Two sides of the same coin. Lauren talking snapped him out of his thoughts.

"James, you were there when Khan attacked! You're not telling me that there isn't a small part of you that wouldn't have wanted to just blow him out the sky?"

"Of course there was but that wasn't… isn't the right thing to do. Lauren, you have to tell me. Who else is involved?" Kirk stood slowly, not wanting to make her suspiciousness. The fact that she was clearly still interested in him and wanted to impress him could work to his advantage.

"Admiral Hogno has led the cause…" Lauren starting speaking but Kirk interrupted her.

"Admiral Hogno? His name came up at the hearing of Admiral Marcus?" Lauren nodded her head in response. "Of course, now it makes sense."

"James, please. Once you know who's involved and what our shared vision is you'll know it's the right thing. You've lost too many people needlessly, your Father…"

"Be careful Lauren!" Kirk warned.

"You're the best Captain I know, you'd be an unquestionable asset and with the flagship at our disposal the Federation wouldn't be able defeat us." She'd walked towards him, her voice low and enticing,he understood now why she had treated him the way she had all week. He also now understood why he had been so willing to spend time with her, it had been easy. She had stroked his ego, never questioned him, and seemingly revered him. She had played him.

"What about those who don't agree? Won't agree?" He asked her.

"They'll come around." She smiled sweetly as she pretended to pick at a loose thread on his sleeve.

"What does that mean Lauren?"

"It means we have everybody in one place, what better time to announce our plans." Her hand went to stroke a stray piece of hair from his forehead, he couldn't help but flinch from her touch. Her gaze shifted and he could tell she was annoyed at his response. He needed her to think that he was on board, he softly gripped her wrist with his hand and smiled at her suggestively.

"My First Officer is still planet side, can I give him a heads up?" He stroked his thumb up and down her wrist as he spoke.

"Sure, why not." She closed her eyes lazily and hummed. "James, why did we never work out?" She was looking at him longingly.

"I was thinking the same thing." She closed the gap between them, all the while Kirk couldn't get the image out of his mind. It was of Devon lying on the beach, the freckles on her nose, her hair loose and full of sand and sea salt. The way she smiled at him, in that moment he didn't know whether he'd ever see that side of her again.

* * *

"Doctor McCoy." He turned to look at Uhura who sat at her station.

"What is it Lieutenant Uhura?" He asked.

"I've just received a secure communication from Commander Spock, he's been informed by Captain Kirk that an attempted coup of the Federation is to take place within the next few hours before the symposium finishes today?" He knew Uhura was taken aback and confused by the message but he understood perfectly well what was going on, he was only glad that Kirk was now conscious of the plan Kitto had been trying to warn him about. "There was also a message for you Doctor." Uhura continued.

"Go on." McCoy urged apprehensively.

"Commander Spock repeated the Captain's words verbatim, he said "To the Queen" Doctor. Does that make sense to you?" He nodded curtly, he knew exactly what it meant. Turning on his heel he went to the Captain's chair and opened up a communication.

"Ensign Pendlebury."

"Yes Doctor?" A young male voice replied.

"Release the Chief, now."

"Aye Sir."

* * *

Time moved fast from the moment Devon was released from the brig, back in uniform she immediately pulled together the entire security function and briefed them on the risk posed to the symposium attendees. When a move would be made they would be there ready for it, they would arrest those involved and ensure no retaliation was taken. She spoke confidently and swiftly to the room full of Officers, her time in the brig had had some use to it. It had given her time to plan. She dismissed the men and women and watched them leave the room hurriedly, when the last security officer had left the room Devon clocked McCoy in the doorframe.

"Is he still on the Resolute?" She asked, pushing a loosehair pin back into her tightly wrapped bun and picking up her PADD from the desk in front of her.

"He is." McCoy answered. "You're going to go get him?" Kitto only nodded in response. "You think she'd kill him?" He asked cautiously.

"I do." She replied.

"But she clearly doesn't see him as a threat, perhaps he's playing along?" Kitto couldn't help but scoff.

"Yeah, he fooled me." She muttered under her breath, McCoy still heard her though.

"What are you going to do when you see him?" He caught her eye with his focussed stare.

"I'm going to kill him before she does." She winked at him as she spoke and then left the room, McCoy stood there for a moment longer, he wasn't entirely sure whether or not she was joking.

* * *

"Do we know where the Captain is Scotty?" Kitto asked as she prepped her phaser, now standing in the transporter room.

"Aye, he's in her quarters."

"Of course he is." Kitto rolled her eyes. "Can you transport me to the corridor outside and have the override ready?" She asked.

"Aye, but the alarm will sound thirty seconds beforehand, you'll have to be fast." The Engineer warned.

"Walk in the park." She gave him a grin and walked up onto the transporter. "Energise." The whirling of the lights gave her a few precious moments to gather her thoughts, take a deep breath and be prepared to do what could be necessary. The darkness of the passageway enveloped her and she instinctively turned to the door on her right, keying in the code she heard the alarm go off on the other side of the door. As soon as the door had slid open her phaser was up and trained on anything that moved, walking into the quarters her eyes scanned the area, it was empty. Swiftly making her way through to what she assumed was the bedroom she stopped abruptly. In front of her stood her Captain, James TKirk with a phaser to his head, Lauren Mortimer stood behind him staring at Kitto.

"Hello everybody, how are we?" Kitto's voice was light-hearted and almost jovial, all the while she trainedher weapon on Mortimer, who shifted anxiously.

"I've been better." Kirk didn't see the funny side of the situation.

"Captain Mortimer, lower your weapon." Kitto's face was stone cold serious.

"That won't be happening!" Mortimer almost screamed back, Kitto glanced at Kirk.

"Dare I ask what happened?" Kirk was finding Kitto'srelaxed approach to him having a phaser pointed to his head rather alarming.

"He lied! That's what happened!" Kitto could tell Mortimer had lost the plot, her eyes were darting across the room and she kept adjusting her grip on the phaser.

"He does that." Kitto replied nonchalantly. "And yet I don't think that's enough of a reason to kill him do you? I mean, don't get me wrong, I feel like killing him myself from time to time but really? Is he really worth the effort?" She shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, Kirk was wide eyed.

"Chief?" Kirk's voice was cautioning her to stop talking but she held up her finger to her lips and shushed himas if he was a child.

"I guess though, given your situation you might as well go down for two murders instead of one. In for a penny and all that…" Kitto shrugged her shoulders again at the woman.

"I'm not going down for anything! Shut up! Just SHUT UP!" Mortimer was shouting at the top of her voice.

"Whatever you say." Kitto laughed condescendingly.

"You bitch!" Mortimer turned the phaser from Kirk to point at Kitto, this allowed Kirk to turn and kick the weapon from her hands and land a punch to her jaw which hurled her to the floor. Each one of them stood there in silence, both staring at the unconscious woman on the floor, finally Kirk turned to look at Kitto.

"The symposium?" He asked.

"Contained." She answered simply, he didn't know what to say next.

"Devon, I…" As soon as he uttered her name she turned and strode out of the room, it took him a moment to realise she was walking away from him. "Devon wait." Kirk began to follow after her and when she didn't stop after he said her name again he grabbed at her arm and pulled her to face him.

"Fuck off Jim!" She snapped at him, pulling her arm free from his grasp. She obviously surprised him because he took a step back, she started walking away from him again.

"Lieutenant Commander! I order you to stop." He shouted after her. Tapping her communicator she stared at him hardheartedly.

"Scotty, beam the Captain up. I'm going to clear up the mess here." Kirk opened his mouth to speak. "Don't!" She warned him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry too." He disappeared before her eyes.

* * *

Devon was away from the Enterprise for twelve hours, placing Lauren Mortimer in custody and debriefing the acting Captain of the Resolute. She then went to the planet to ensure the situation was being dealt with correctly there. A number of Captains and Officer that had previously been aware of the planned coup came to the forefront and ensured that those involved were remanded in custody and no further threat could be made. By the time she made it back to the Enterprise she was mentally and physically exhausted, stepping through the door of her quarters she actually sighed out loud in relief. Not even bothering to take her boots off she flopped onto her bed pulling at the tucked corner of the cover and wrapping it over herself. She lay there for a while, her eyes not really focussing on anything, she just allowed herself to stare off into space. Her head wasn't full of thoughts and she felt surprisingly calm, closing her eyes images didn't come to mind like she thought they would.

When she opened her eyes she thought a minute had passed but the clock flashing on her bedside terminal told her several hours had gone by. Sitting up she stretched out her neck, feeling it crack in protest. Her doorbell sounded and a knot in the pit of her stomach instantly formed, she really didn't want it to be Kirk at her door. Standing and making her way over she felt sick, her hand hovered over the key display as she contemplated just ignoring whoever was stood on the other side. But she knew that if she did and it was Kirk he would use the security override anyway. Her finger pressed the button revealing her friend Betty, Devon instantly felt a flood of relief and practically pulled her friend over the threshold.

"Devon?" Betty whispered into her friends shoulder as the pair hugged.

"Oh god Betts." That was all she could mutter before a torrent of tears poured from her eyes. They stood still for the longest time, one friend embracing the other. Betty kept rubbing small circles on Devon's back as Devon cried into her friend's shoulder, neither one spoke. Finally, after a few shuddering breaths Devon pulled back and looked at her friend.

"You want to tell me what happened?" Betty asked sympathetically, Devon couldn't help but laugh through her sniffles.

"Yeah." They went and sat down on her sofa, both women curling their legs under themselves. "Do you want a drink?" Devon offered.

"I'm fine, get to it." Betty rested her head in her hand, settling in for what she knew would be a very interesting story.

"I slept with Kirk." She said simply, Betty nodded slowly.

"Okay." She replied. Devon proceeded to tell her everything, not only about the plan to overthrow Starfleet but all the small interactions between her and Kirk. How he had kept the truth from her, how she had kept the truth from him. She could feel the weight lifting off her shoulders as she spoke and she only wished she'd gone to her friend sooner.

"You've had a busy week!" Betty grimaced.

"You can say that again."

"You've had a busy week!" Betty repeated herself, Devon swotted her arm and rolled her eyes at her but she was eternally grateful for the moment of silliness her friend provided. "There she is." Devon looked at her confused. "There's my friend I know and love."

"Thank you Betts." She gave the woman another hug and then let out a long slow exhale. "So, what do I do now?" She looked at her expectantly.

"Beats me!"

"Betts!"

"What!? I wouldn't know where to start, the Captain shot you, threw you in the brig, maybe…possibly cheated on you all the while you were heading up some secret investigation and suspected him of being involved. Yeah, sure thing, a walk in the park Devon!You're both idiots!" Betty shook her head in disbelief.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself! Listen, you're a smart cookie…most of the time. You have everything and everybody wrapped around your little finger. So has he, so forgive me if I'm a little bit taken aback when two people, top of their game that are proficient, respected, act like a pair of teenagers." Devon sat gobsmacked and for a couple of minutes couldn't think of a word to say.

"Well, I guess I deserved that."

"You absolutely deserved that, I don't know if you know this but you were damn lucky."

"I do know that." Devon agreed quietly.

"You need to rein that neck in of yours and calm the hell down! Captain Kirk is your commanding officer and if you can't accept that then you shouldn't be here. You need to trust the man, I'm not talking about whatever's going on behind closed doors, I'm talking professionally. Trust him, or you're the one putting everybody's life at risk." Betty looked at her sternly, she watched Devon's face for signs of acceptance. When she could see that Devon was in agreement, the small nod and huff giving her away she smiled softly and put her hand on Devon's. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I think so. I need to go see him." She stood up and ran her hands over her hair, smacking her cheeks slightly she wiped at her puffy eyes. "He is a good Captain, I do trust him and I don't want to leave the Enterprise."

"Then go tell him that, your professional relationship needs to be rebuilt and that's a great start to the rebuilding project." Betty confirmed.

"What about 'everything else'?" Devon asked, using air quotes to stress her point.

"Everything else will have to wait for a while, don't you think?" Betty asked her, Devon could only nod in reply. As she was walking back over to her door she turned and stopped.

"I guess I need to first work out what 'everything else' is and whether or not I still want it." Betty stared at her for a moment.

"I'm going to take that as a rhetorical question because I don't even know where to start with that whole mess of trouble." Betty waved her hands in apparent exhaustion. "Oh before I forget, are you going to go see Kirk now?" She asked seriously.

"Yes, why?" Devon asked concerned.

"Get a shower first, you look like shit."

* * *

 ** _Hey guys! Hope you're still enjoying this, let me know by leaving a review please it would be much appreciated! LLAP ;-) XOXO_**


	20. Chapter 20

"I'm glad you came." Kirk moved to one side so that Devon could walk by him and into his quarters, turning she gave him a small smile. For the first time in a long time she felt nervous around him.

"Of course I came, I think we have a lot to discuss don't you?" She replied watching him walk to his couch and sit down in his usual relaxed state, the only tell-tale sign of his own nervousness was that he kept rubbing his hands together. "You look tired." She commented quietly as she sat down next to him.

"I am." He was looking at her intently. "What happened Devon?" He asked eventually, she folded over on herself and threw her head into her lap, letting out a low groan.

"I don't know Jim!" Her words were muffled against her thighs and Kirk couldn't help but chuckle.

"I do." He said cautiously.

"Yeah, what?" Her voice was still muffled.

"We didn't trust each other, I didn't trust you and you didn't trust me. That's the bare bones of it don't you think?" Devon looked up at him, her face flushed pink.

"It's that simple?" She asked.

"I think so, yeah there's a load of other bullsh*t surrounding it, ego, pride, that sort of thing." His smile widened as he spoke to her.

"Speak for yourself." Devon tutted dismissively but he knew she was joking. "I was really angry at you Jim, I was really upset. I lost a good friend and I really needed you!" The smile disappeared from Kirk's face.

"Me too." He answered. "I'm sorry Devon." He tentatively moved his hand out towards her, stroking the fabric of the sofa with his fingers. She watched intently and moved her hand so the tips of their fingers touched ever so softly.

"Me too. We make a good team Jim, when you're not knocking me unconscious and throwing me in the brig!" He nodded in agreement and cringed at the thought she had conjured up.

"Not my finest hour, it's going to be fun writing that up in the report!" Devon laughed at his contorted face. "We do make a good team though, despite all of that." He answered, his fingers intertwined with hers until their hands were clasped together. "I don't want to lose you Devon." He spoke honestly.

"You won't Jim, you know that. Besides, somebody needs to keep you out of trouble." She gave him a small wink, a sure fire sign as far as Kirk was concerned that it wasn't completely broken between them.

"Keep me out of trouble!?" Kirk pretended to be shocked which Devon couldn't help but laugh at again. "What about us?" He asked hesitantly

"I was thinking about that…"

"And?" He sat forward slightly in anticipation.

"And…I think we should get this back on track before we try to get that back on track, does that make sense?" she pointed to their respective ranks on their uniforms as she spoke, she watched his face for signs of anger, or upset or acceptance. She couldn't work out what he was feeling.

"It makes no sense." He replied seriously.

"What?" Devon was taken aback; she didn't think that he would disagree with her. The pair of them had to work on their professional relationship before anything else, they had a duty to uphold. She opened her mouth to explain just that when she saw the corner of his mouth twitch with a smirk.

"Are you playing with me?" She asked incredulously.

"You're not the only one whose funny you know." Kirk grinned at her, she swotted his arm playfully.

"You said I wasn't funny!" She answered back.

"No really, it makes complete sense. You're right and I was thinking the same thing." She felt relieved that they weren't adding to the already long list of issues they needed to resolve. "Doesn't mean I won't be thinking about you though." He teased, she couldn't help herself, she instinctively leant forward and kissed him on the lips, it was long and slow and gentle.

"Me too." She whispered as their foreheads rested on one another.

"Are you sure we're making the right decision, waiting before we…" Devon laughed and cut him off.

"Jim, yes we're making the right decision." He audibly groaned and just before she could pull away he caught her lips with his again and it was her turn to moan.

* * *

 **Six Months Later**

"You couldn't have picked a planet that was warm?" Devon shouted over to Kirk, her voice muffled by the scarf wrapped over her face.

"What?" She heard him shout back.

"I SAID…YOU COULDN'T HAVE FOUND A PLANET THAT WAS WARM?" She shouted back at him, cursing under her breath.

"WHAT?" He repeated, the howling wind and snow preventing him from making out what she was saying.

"I HATE YOU!" She shouted back, slipping in the snow as she spoke that was now up to her knees. Kirk made his way over to her, falling and slipping himself.

"We should find cover!" She nodded and they both started to make their way over to what looked like a series of caverns. The whistling in Devon's ears was deafening and their visibility was next to nothing. She could barely feel her fingertips, even with the two pairs of gloves she had on. Icy air seeped in through her clothes anywhere there was a zip or button closing. She felt a tug on her arm and saw that Kirk was pointing towards an opening of a cave. She nodded and followed after him slowly, her limbs aching. After another twenty feet they stopped outside the opening, Kitto made her way round Kirk and pulled her phaser from its holster, she doubted she'd be able to use it properly given the thickness of her gloves and the fact her hands were nearly frozen solid but she wasn't willing to take the risk. Kirk stood back, letting her do her job. Stepping further inside she pulled out her tricorder and flipped it open with one hand. Scanning the area she eventually put her phaser away and motioned to Kirk that it was all clear.

When they were both far enough in that the wind and snow wasn't pelting them they stopped and heaved a sigh of relief. Pulling down their hoods, hats and scarfs they looked at each other, their skin marked with blotches of red and pink.

"I hate caves." Kitto stated abruptly, Kirk knew what she was referring to.

"You'll be fine Chief." He tried to comfort her but she scoffed and sat herself down on the floor.

"Thanks for the words of comfort Captain." She answered sarcastically as she opened her backpack and lit three small torches. "Make yourself useful Captain and start collecting kindling for a fire."

"Isn't it supposed to me that gives the orders?" Kirk asked in a semi-serious tone.

"You can argue with me Sir, but you'll freeze to death. I'm going to set up the parameter alarms, I'm more than happy for you to do that instead." She smiled at him sweetly, but he could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't going to budge an inch.

"Kindling, right." She watched him walk off in search of firewood and she couldn't help but smile. Even in the situation they currently found themselves in which if she was being honest with herself could get very bad very quickly they still managed to tease each other and make each other laugh.

They had both worked consistently hard on their professional relationship over the past six months, trusting the other to make the right decisions, to respect one another and support one another. Devon finally felt like they were in a really good position and Kirk did too. It was how she always wanted it to be. Within the space of twenty minutes the small cave they were sat in was lit by the fire that Devon had made, the amber hue made their skin look golden-brown and each one of them held out their hands to warm them up.

"We should wait until the storm dies down before heading back to base camp." Kirk's teeth still chattered as he spoke.

"Are you still cold?" Devon asked concerned.

"I'm freezing." Kirk answered honestly. Devon stood and edged her way round the fire, she crouched behind Kirk and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his hat back on his head. They sat in silence, the only sound coming from Kirk's jacket as Devon rubbed her hands up and down his arms.

"Better?" She asked, he could feel her breath on his ear.

"Yes, thanks." The teeth chattering had stopped.

"The first time I left India was to travel to Starfleet Academy, that first winter was the first time I'd ever seen snow. I would stand outside and lift my face up to the sky just to feel the snowdrops fall on my skin, it was the most wonderful feeling I had ever experienced." Kirk listened raptly, Devon's voice wistful and comforting.

"Where did you come from, before you moved to India?" Kirk asked quietly.

"From England but I was too young to remember anything about it." This was the most she'd ever talked about her childhood, she felt comfortable with Kirk, more so than with anybody else she'd ever met.

"Did you like living in India?" Kirk asked.

"I loved it, I loved my family and I loved my life there. It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I remember when I was eight and my Brother, Abdulaziz was fifteen, we were down by the river and another group of boys were already there playing. One of them ran over and pushed me into the water, he called me 'Gori' and laughed. I remember sitting in the river and just wanting the ground to open me up and swallow me whole, I felt so alone in the world. My Brother told me to stand up, I was drenched and crying but I stood up. I walked over to the group of boys and pushed the one that had pushed me over into the river, all the boys started laughing at him. It was an important lesson, one I've never forgotten."

"Your parents must be very proud of you." Devon smiled and gave Kirk a tight hug.

"Thank you for saying that." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and then took a seat next to him. "You feeling warmer now?" She asked.

"A little bit, you know they say the best way to stay warm is to get naked and crawl into a sleeping bag together." Kirk gave Devon a wink and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Who are ' _they_ ' Captain?" She asked, playing along.

"You know, ' _they_ '? ' _They_ ' know what they're talking about." Kirk persevered.

"There's only one problem Captain." Devon said as she looked at the flames licking the wood Kirk had collected earlier.

"Yeah, what's that?" Kirk asked, a tinge of excitement evident in his tone.

"We don't have a sleeping bag." Devon couldn't help but smirk as she answered his question.

"Aw hell Kitto!" Was the only thing Kirk could muster.

"Stop harassing your Chief Captain and drink some water, I'm going to go get some more wood for the fire." She didn't fail to notice the look of disappointment on his face as she stood and stretched, making her way out of the cave.

* * *

Kirk had lost track of the time, it had been maybe an hour since Devon had left the cave and Kirk was becoming increasingly worried. Standing he pulled his phaser from its holster and made his own way to the mouth of the cave. The storm had calmed somewhat and the snow now falling was light and delicate, he looked out and through the trees, now all covered with a blanket of white. He opened his mouth to shout Devon's name but stopped himself, wondering if maybe that wasn't the best idea. He didn't know who or what was hidden by the foliage he was surrounded by and him shouting at the top of his voice wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. He stomped out into the snow and walked a little into the woods.

"Chief?" He whispered loudly. "Chief? Where are you?" He looked around but couldn't see any footprints in the snow.

"You hungry?" The voice from behind him made him jump and, spinning on his heel he aimed his phaser at the apparent attacker.

"Christ Captain! Don't kill me, I've caught dinner!" Devon held up a fury looking animal in front of her face.

"I nearly killed you Chief! Don't ever do that again!" Kirk was still trying to catch his breath, looking at the animal he grimaced slightly upon seeing the blood. "You caught that? What is it by the way?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Of course I killed it, I don't know? Looks like a Rabbit to me, don't tell me you weren't a Boy Scout when you were a kid?" Kitto asked him incredulously.

"No, I was not a Boy Scout Kitto, were you?" He regretted asking the question as soon as it left his mouth.

"What do you think Captain!?" Kitto laughed and started walking back to the cave. "Come on Sir, I'm starving! There's only so many ration packs a woman can eat!" Kirk just stared after her.

* * *

"You know this doesn't taste too bad." Kirk licked his fingers and threw the last bone on the fire, watching the fire crackle from the remnants of fat and meat he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Compliments to the Chef." He looked over at Devon who dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement.

"We should try to head back to base camp don't you think?" She asked him, wiping her own mouth with her sleeve.

"Yeah, you're probably right. The storms all but cleared, it shouldn't take too long." Standing Kirk put out the fire and collected his belongings before putting them in his backpack. Devon did the same until the pair of them were stood looking at one another.

"You ready Sir?" She asked.

"Yeah, hey Chief? I enjoyed our little camping trip, thanks." He watched her eyes sparkle and noticed the faintest sign of her cheeks blushing.

"Me too Sir." She answered politely but Kirk knew there was more emotion behind her polite response than she was allowing him to see.

"I have an idea, when we're back on Earth, we should go camping. I've always wanted to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, what do you say? Will you come with me?" Kirk unconsciously held out his hand to her, which Devon readily took hold of grinning wildly.

"It's a date!" She answered excitedly; they both froze at her words, it was the first and only real comment or reference to their previous, more personal relationship in the last six months. Kirk squeezed her hand in reassurance and then turned towards the mouth of the cave.

"You can teach me to build a fire." He threw over his shoulder, Devon exhaled the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"Sure, but no songs." She answered, speaking to the back of his head.

"What!? You can't camp without singing round the fire! Are you crazy Kitto!?" Kirk threw back to her.

"I can't sing Sir." She offered up, hoping it would dissuade him.

"I don't believe that for a second! Besides, I can so we'll be fine." They made their way out of the cave, the sun was still hidden behind grey cloud but the snow had stopped and the wind had dropped. "Come on then, this way." Kirk started off in the direction of the base camp, Kitto following behind. After a minute or two Devon cleared her throat.

"I wear my pink pyjamas in the summer when it's hot." Devon's voice was loud and cut through the crisp cool air, Kirk couldn't work out the tune she was singing the words to but he had to stop himself from turning and bursting out laughing.

"I wear my flannel nighties in the winter when it's not." Devon continued, he could tell she was trying her hardest to sing in tune. She was failing magnificently.

"And sometimes in the springtime and sometimes in the fall, I jump right in between the sheets with nothing on at all." Kirk couldn't take anymore, he stopped and turned round to look at her.

"Glory, glory, Hallelujah; Glory, glory, what's it to ya?" The priceless look of absolute mortification plastered on her Captain's face made Devon grin ear to ear.

"Oh god it's to the Battle Hymn of the Republic isn't it?" He asked her gobsmacked.

"Balmy breezes blowing through ya, with nothing on at all!" Devon all but belted out the last verse, with a wave of her arms above her head she proceeded to take the most over the top theatrical bow Kirk had ever seen.

"Okay I believe you, you can't sing." He commented dryly. Devon stuck her middle finger up at him and strode past him ignoring the slow clap he had begun to give her. "I didn't think it possible somebody could be that tone death?" They carried on walking for another twenty minutes or so, mostly in silence.

"Hey Chief?" Kirk called to Devon who was still walking in front of him.

"Yeah Captain." Kitto answered, stopping and turning to see what he wanted. As soon as her face was pointing to him he threw the snowball he had silently been forming in his gloved hands for the past five minutes. It hit her square in the face with a loud thwacking sound, the snow and ice splintering off in all directions.

"Jesus Christ! Sonofabitch!" Devon covered her face with her hands and dropped to her knees.

"Shit! Kitto!" Kirk's face fell and he bound over to her, falling to his own knees and grabbing at her hands. Pulling them away he winced when he saw the small cut just below her left eye, the skin surrounding it burned pink by the ice.

"What the hell Jim!?" She looked at him in amazement, pulling off her glove she gingerly felt the bloodied cut on her face. "Ow! That really hurt Jim!" She winced again.

"I'm so sorry Devon, I really didn't mean to get you in the face! It was just supposed to be a fun snowball." Kirk was mortified.

"Did you make it out of ice!?" Devon responded pithily.

"NO! I'm really really sorry Devon." She looked at his face, he really did look like he was sorry. Both of them stood, Devon putting her glove back on her hand.

"Come on, you can explain how this happened to McCoy when we get back to camp." She pointed her finger at him as she spoke and he recoiled like a little boy who had just been told off by his overbearing Mother.

As they were walking Devon pretended to slip, grabbing a handful of snow she waited for Kirk to stop and offer her his hand to get back up. When he did and they were facing one another she grabbed the back of his coat hood and swiftly shoved the snow down the back of his coat. Kirk gave out a howl and Devon couldn't help but laugh to the point of tears as she watched him jump around trying to get the ice and snow out of his coat.

"You think you're smart don't you Kitto!?" Kirk had a look in his eye, it was a look Devon hadn't seen before.

"Yeah, pretty much! We can call it even, don't you think Captain?" She smirked and crossed her arms in front of her.

"To hell with even!" Kirk exclaimed as he took off into a sprint straight for her, she didn't have time to respond before he had tackled her to the ground and was trying to push as much snow down the back of her coat as he could.

"STOP! STOP IT!" She shouted, but he had pinned her to the ground and was throwing as much snow on her as possible.

"Say the magic word." Kirk teased, that did it. Kitto brought her knee up in between his legs and as he doubled over in pain she threw him to the ground and jumped on top of him, straddling his legs. The pair of them continued to struggle against the other, one of them gaining the upper hand every minute or so. Both of them were laughing so hard they eventually collapsed, lying next to one another. Catching their breath and breathing deep lungful's of air Kirk turned to look at Devon.

"I'm sorry about your cheek." He whispered to her, she turned to look back at him.

"I've had worse." She smiled and then focussed in on his lips, they were so close to hers. Losing all concentration everything around her fell out of focus. "I want to kiss you." She stated simply.

"So kiss me." Was his reply, she closed her eyes and slowly moved towards him, anticipating the feel, touch and warmth of his lips against hers.

"JIM! My God man what the hell are you doing!? You're a damned idiot you know that!? You'll catch a cold!" They both opened their eyes at the sound of McCoy's voice. Looking between them they watched as McCoy made his way over to them. "In the name of all that is holy what hell are you two doing!?" His cantankerous tone and arched eyebrow sent the pair of them over the edge, each one of them bursting out into laugher once more.

"You two are insane you know that!? I'm giving you both full psych evaluations when we're back on the ship, that's an order." With that he dismissed them with a wave of his hand and began to walk away, not before shouting of his shoulder that Devon had to go see him to get her cheek fixed when they had finished whatever they were doing.

"I'll be there in a minute Doc!" She shouted after him. Helping each other up they stood and brushed all the snow off themselves before looking at one another.

"I still want to kiss you." Devon remarked quietly.

"Good."

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 _ **Thank you for all the follows and favourites, I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it. I hope you liked the ending also, please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks Ladies & Gents LLAP ;-) XOXO**_


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